ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurdish jailed politician Selahattin Demirtas cannot benefit from Turkey’s newly-announced judicial “reforms” due to his alleged involvement in deadly incidents, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday. “I am definitely not allowed to intervene with the affairs of the judiciary, but let everyone know that we are not going to protect the so-called rights of a terrorist, especially one like Selahattin Demirtas,” Erdogan told reporters in Ankara of the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), reported Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency (AA). “I believe that our judiciary will not prepare such an opportunity for a terrorist like Selahattin Demirtas,” he added. Erdogan says Demirtas is to blame for the deaths of people in a number of incidents. The president says the jailed leader and his party incited violence by allegedly encouraging nation-wide protests in 2014, when the Kurdish city of Kobane in northern Syria was besieged by the Islamic State (ISIS) group, that turned deadly when demonstrators clashed with security forces. On November 13, Erdogan announced a government project to reform the judicial system, though details have not been made public. Demirtas was detained in November 2016, along with a number of other party officials and parliamentarians for their alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey, but classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara. Demirtas faces up to 142 years in jail. Despite calls from Erdogan’s allies, as well as local and international rights organizations, Turkish authorities have refused to release the leader. Bulent Arinc, former speaker of parliament and deputy prime minister, resigned from his position on the Turkish presidency’s High Advisory Board on November 24, after being slammed by Erdogan for calling for Demirtas’ release. “Selahattin Demirtas has been in jail for three to four years. The arrest should not be turned into a punishment,” said Arinc.
