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Turkey
Protesters during a demonstration in Ankara in October 2014 against attacks launched by ISIS militants targeting the Syrian city of Kobane. Photograph: Adem Altan/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Over a hundred people will stand trial in Turkey this coming Monday for their alleged role in violence at 2014 protests against the army’s inaction during the Islamic State (ISIS) group’s takeover of Syria’s Kurdish town Kobane.
A total of 108 people, including large swathes of members and officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), will be tried in Ankara in relation to riots that took place in 2014, when protesters across Turkey – especially its Kurdish-majority southeast – took to the streets to express solidarity with Kurds in the northern Syrian city of Kobane, then under attack from ISIS. Over 30 people died, and more than 700 were injured when the protests turned violent.
An indictment issued in January called for 38 counts of life sentences without parole against the 108 defendants, including jailed Kurdish political leader Selahattin Demirtas. Charges include the burning the Turkish flag, damaging prayer houses, abduction and damaging public property. A number of HDP members are on trial for a tweet by the political party calling for protests, which the government says supported the Kurdistan Workers' Party — a Kurdish armed group considered a terrorist group by the Turkish state.
"The peaceful demonstrations held across Kobani and some Turkish cities were not met with violence until Erdogan released a statement saying 'Kobane is about to fall,'" said HDP deputy chairman Saruhan Oluc.
The HDP showed great effort to prevent damage after an increase in violence and death began, he added.
The Islamic State (ISIS) emerged in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The demonstrators accused the Turkish army of standing by ISIS militants besieging Kobane.
The HDP is also facing legal attempts by Ankara to close down the party.
A total of 108 people, including large swathes of members and officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), will be tried in Ankara in relation to riots that took place in 2014, when protesters across Turkey – especially its Kurdish-majority southeast – took to the streets to express solidarity with Kurds in the northern Syrian city of Kobane, then under attack from ISIS. Over 30 people died, and more than 700 were injured when the protests turned violent.
An indictment issued in January called for 38 counts of life sentences without parole against the 108 defendants, including jailed Kurdish political leader Selahattin Demirtas. Charges include the burning the Turkish flag, damaging prayer houses, abduction and damaging public property. A number of HDP members are on trial for a tweet by the political party calling for protests, which the government says supported the Kurdistan Workers' Party — a Kurdish armed group considered a terrorist group by the Turkish state.
"The peaceful demonstrations held across Kobani and some Turkish cities were not met with violence until Erdogan released a statement saying 'Kobane is about to fall,'" said HDP deputy chairman Saruhan Oluc.
The HDP showed great effort to prevent damage after an increase in violence and death began, he added.
The Islamic State (ISIS) emerged in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The demonstrators accused the Turkish army of standing by ISIS militants besieging Kobane.
The HDP is also facing legal attempts by Ankara to close down the party.
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