ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Turkish Constitutional Court on Monday accepted an indictment requesting the closure of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), state media reported.
The indictment will be sent back to the HDP for a “preliminary defense.” The party’s closure will be accepted if 10 out of 15 members of the Constitutional Court vote in favor of shutting down the party.
Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Human Rights Watch Europe and Asia Associate Director, criticized the move, calling it a “full assault” on voters and MPs. She stated the Constitutional Court accepted the indictment “on the heels of last week’s violent attack & murder in Izmir, bogus Kobane trial hearings, - the injustice is endless.”
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 June 8.
Anadolu Agency added when the report was re-examined the deficiencies “were eliminated” and resolved to accepted it unanimously.
If the court determines its closure, members of the political party will be banned from being founders, members, managers and supervisors of another party for five years, according to Anadolu Agency.
Pervin Buldan, co-chair of the party, slammed the move, saying they are using their case to shield a mafia leader who, through his accusations of crimes, rape and corruption against senior officials, including Turkey’s interior minister, has dominated the media since early May.
“Whenever their dirt is revealed, they think of the HDP and Kurds [to clean it],” she said.
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.
Hundreds of HDP members and supporters are under investigation or in jail, including Selahattin Demirtas, the HDP’s former leader along with his co-chair Figen Yuksekdag.
Deniz Poyraz, the daughter of an HDP employee, was shot dead on Thursday when a gunman entered the party’s office in the western city of Izmir and opened fire. When he was arrested, the alleged murderer told police he was willing to kill more people.
Buldan, at Deniz's funeral said, “The mentality that murdered Deniz is the same as [the one] that pursues the HDP closure.”
The HDP has placed blame for the attack on the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and its ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
She also told Rudaw English in April, “In the absence of the HDP, Kurds will continue their freedom struggle with even greater strength through another party” as the party continued to face threats of closure for its advocacies for Kurds.
The indictment will be sent back to the HDP for a “preliminary defense.” The party’s closure will be accepted if 10 out of 15 members of the Constitutional Court vote in favor of shutting down the party.
Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Human Rights Watch Europe and Asia Associate Director, criticized the move, calling it a “full assault” on voters and MPs. She stated the Constitutional Court accepted the indictment “on the heels of last week’s violent attack & murder in Izmir, bogus Kobane trial hearings, - the injustice is endless.”
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 June 8.
Anadolu Agency added when the report was re-examined the deficiencies “were eliminated” and resolved to accepted it unanimously.
If the court determines its closure, members of the political party will be banned from being founders, members, managers and supervisors of another party for five years, according to Anadolu Agency.
Pervin Buldan, co-chair of the party, slammed the move, saying they are using their case to shield a mafia leader who, through his accusations of crimes, rape and corruption against senior officials, including Turkey’s interior minister, has dominated the media since early May.
“Whenever their dirt is revealed, they think of the HDP and Kurds [to clean it],” she said.
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.
Hundreds of HDP members and supporters are under investigation or in jail, including Selahattin Demirtas, the HDP’s former leader along with his co-chair Figen Yuksekdag.
Deniz Poyraz, the daughter of an HDP employee, was shot dead on Thursday when a gunman entered the party’s office in the western city of Izmir and opened fire. When he was arrested, the alleged murderer told police he was willing to kill more people.
Buldan, at Deniz's funeral said, “The mentality that murdered Deniz is the same as [the one] that pursues the HDP closure.”
The HDP has placed blame for the attack on the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and its ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
She also told Rudaw English in April, “In the absence of the HDP, Kurds will continue their freedom struggle with even greater strength through another party” as the party continued to face threats of closure for its advocacies for Kurds.
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