Reports that the Turkish government plans to destroy the Kurdish movement in Turkey, similar to Sri Lanka’s crackdown on the Tamil Tigers, seem credible to Selahattin Demirtas, co-chair of the Kurdish-dominated Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who also cautions that any such operation is doomed to fail. In an interview with Al-Monitor, Demirtas also said Ankara’s security clampdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and increasing pressure on the HDP go hand in hand with efforts to suppress Kurdish self-rule in Syria, including the use of the Islamic State (IS) as a proxy. Demirtas asserted that Kurdish empowerment in the Middle East has reached a point of no return and that the international powers involved in the region should seek to develop strategic ties with the Kurds.

The HDP leader defended his recent visit to Russia, which Ankara condemned as “treason,” and said the Kurds had no intention of becoming a Russian tool in the ongoing crisis between Ankara and Moscow. Commenting on a visit to the United States in early December, he said the HDP has credibility in Washington, although he believes the United States would be bound to side with Turkey if it had to choose between Ankara and the Kurds.

A graduate of Ankara University’s law faculty, Demirtas began his career as a lawyer and served as head of the Human Rights Association’s Diyarbakir branch before entering politics. In 2010, he was elected chairman of the Peace and Democracy Party and retained this post when the HDP succeeded the party in June 2014. He quickly gained popularity beyond the Kurdish electorate in southeastern Turkey and ran in the 2014 presidential elections, winning 9.7% of the vote. In parliamentary elections held in June 2015, his popularity and charisma were instrumental in helping the HDP garner a historic 13.1% of votes. In the snap elections conducted in November, however, the HDP dropped to 10.7% amid renewed clashes between Turkish security forces and the PKK.

The text of the interview follows: