English Democracy Union sent a party including MP’s to investigate the recent incidents in Diyarbakır. The group listened to the local unions and held meetings with the presidents of different non-governmental organizations.
According to Israfil Erbil’s, president of Alevi federation, reports the group coming from England met co-president Hatip Dicle. After this meeting they listened to Ahmet Sayar, the president of Diyarbakır chamber of trade and business association, and the other members of the association. Erbil reported as follows: “ We listened to the locals and held meetings with the leading figures of that region. As a group, we paid a visit to the areas under siege. There are still around 150 civil children and women in the area where the confrontation is on going. At some point we had an effort to interview a policeman. The officials arrested a MP in our group claiming that she has taken photos of the area. She is later set free after two hours of investigation.
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We requested to talk to the governor, which was turned down due to his absence. They did not let us talk to officials, giving various reasons. Later that day, we met representatives of Keks and Disk labour unions. They reported the fierce coercion and the war-like conditions in the area.”