ANKARA (Armenpress) — Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament representing the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), said in an interview on the Turkish Bianet website on May 3 that he was attacked by members of parliament representing the ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) on May 2 during a discussion of depriving the Kurdish MPs of immunity, because he was Armenian.
“It is evident that the members of JDP had targeted me in advance as several JDP representatives attacked me in a coordinated manner,” Paylan said, adding that the attacks were accompanied with racist and xenophobic claims.
In his words, the JDP members attacked him after he dismissed the announcement of the Justice Minister of Turkey claiming that HDP members had abused other MPs during the previous session. “I just said that no, it is not the case, which was followed by the attacks of 10-15 people. The attack had been planned in advance, and the reason was that I am an ethnic Armenian. I have posted that footage on social media. Those interested can watch it and make sure,” Paylan said.
He added that those who attacked him were shouting “Garo is here, Garo is here.”
