Co-chairperson of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş, who met with European Parliament (EP) President Martin Schulz in Brussels on Tuesday, told the EP president he hopes Turkey will soon enter the EU and that Turkish and Kurdish will make it onto the list of EU languages.
Demirtaş travelled to Brussels on Tuesday along with a delegation from his party for a series of talks with EU officials.
Before the start of the meeting with Demirtaş, Schulz, who is German, said he rarely speaks German in the EP but would do so at that particular moment.
In response, Demirtaş said, “We hope Turkey will soon become a member of the EU and that Turkish and Kurdish will make it onto the list of EP languages.”
Demirtaş and his delegation were to have talks with Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for EU Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn later on Tuesday.
The HDP delegation is composed of the party’s HDP Bingöl deputy Hişyar Özsoy, who is responsible for the party’s foreign affairs, Adana deputy Meral Danış Beştaş and Mardin deputy Mithat Sancar.
Demirtaş and his delegation will be in Berlin on Wednesday where they will meet with some German government officials and politicians.
