HDP co-chair slams new indictment against party, says Turkish govt is protecting mafia

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Pervin Buldan, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) slammed a new indictment against the party on Tuesday, saying the government is shielding the mafia by instead looking to shut down her party.

Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, Bekir Sahin, filed a suit with the constitutional court in March, seeking the dissolution of the HDP and a ban on hundreds of its politicians. The indictment was rejected due to “procedural deficiencies.”

He filed a new indictment against the party on Monday. The HDP slammed the move, launching the Twitter hashtag #HDPyiDeğilMafyayıYargıla, which translates to “try the mafia, not the HDP.”

“We can see the pit in which the judiciary fell. The judiciary, which did not go against criminal organizations, once again shielded the mafia by opening another case against the HDP. Whenever their dirt is revealed, they think of the HDP and Kurds [to clean it],” Buldan told her party’s bloc in parliament on Tuesday, condemning the “zero investigation into the mafia, but closure of the HDP.”

The HDP was founded in 2012 as a pro-Kurdish leftist party. With a diverse group of candidates from devout Muslims, to minority representatives, socialists, and LGBT activists, the HDP passed the 10 percent vote threshold and entered the parliament in 2015. It has since been subject to a significant crackdown in recent years, with Turkish officials claiming it is linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – ties the HDP denies.

Sedat Peker, a mob leader, has made a series of YouTube videos which have dominated social media since early May. In the uploads, the mafia boss has linked several senior figures – including Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu – to serious crimes, including rape and corruption. He says Soylu himself has shielded him from prosecution.

A warrant was issued for his arrest by a Turkish court late last month after Solyu filed a lawsuit against him. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan publicly defended the minister against Peker’s claims

Turkish police later detained Sedat’s brother, Attila, and a bodyguard, based on a recent claim by Peker that his brother tried to kill a journalist some 25 years ago.

Buldan told Rudaw English in April that the closure of the party will not end its struggle.

“Political parties are means or tools for political struggle. The important thing is to continue this struggle,” she said.