The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) held a press conference on Monday in Ankara following Turkey’s Constitutional Court’s announcmenet that the Court accepted the indictment seeking a ban on the party.
As the executive board of the HDP evaluated the decision of the highest court in its meeting, HDP co-chairs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar organised a press conference to share the conclusions that were reached during the meeting, MA reports.
Sancar spoke on behalf of the HDP and said,”The Constitutional Court had the chance to completely overrule and reject the indictment. Just when the Constitutional Court was presented with such a historical chance, it was not able to make use of it. This is such a misfortune for Turkey.”
Sancar stated that in the background of the indictment prepared by the prosecutor lay a ‘threat and blackmail’ campaign against the HDP.
“The prosecutor was also threatened by several agents of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and especially those agents of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Having been prepared on such a basis, all people with a little knowledge of law can come to the conclusion that this indictment has no legal value,” he said.
The HDP co-chair defined the indictment to ban the HDP as a “political operation.” “People have witnessed this political operation with their own eyes. We have all together seen how empty, how sleazy, how draft-exempt the first indictment was,” he said.
Sancar continued: “The Constituional Court was right to reject that indictment, but even now, nothing has changed regarding the nature of this document; even as the political campaign of ‘threat and blackmail’ against the HDP continues; even as our HDP office was subjected to a felonious attack, the Constitutional Court accepted this indictment and it is not something that can be explained by the laws.”
Sancar pointed to the recent attack on HDP’s Izmir office resulting in the murder of party official Deniz Poyraz. “The Constituional Court should have taken this attack on Izmir into consideration,” he further noted.
“Despite the attack in Izmir, despite the fact that the murder of our dear comrade Deniz Poyraz has exposed the game played here to everyone, the Constitutional Court has closed its eyes to such a reality.”
Sancar noted that if only the highest court rejected this indictment amid the “dirty and bloody chaos plans” that were linked to the political operation aimed at the liquidation of democratic politics, it could have sent a significant message of hope for democracy to the peoples of Turkey.
“However, it did not do this, as such. That is why we have to state that the Constitutional Court has wasted a historical chance for democracy, social peace and freedom,” he said.
The indictment was sent back by the Court to the prosecutor in March due to procedural omissions in the document. The HDP is now expected to either oppose the decision or to file a defence.
Sancar noted that the HDP was ready for such an attack and it will urgently begin the necessary work to defend the party. “Our lawyers will make the strongest defence in this case, but everybody should see the fact that no matter how much the prosecutor of this case is the government, the defence lawyers of this case are the people themselves, they are the Kurdish people themselves,” he said.
“But it is not only the Kurdish people who are the defenders of the HDP,” Sancar further added. “Because even though the real target of this case is the Kurdish people and their will, the other main target is the destruction of the hopes for democracy and dreams of peace in Turkey. The HDP represents the joint struggle of the peoples. That is why we clearly stated that it will the the Kurdish people who will defend the HDP in the first place, but they will unite this with the struggle of the peoples of Turkey.”
Sancar stated that the cadre of the HDP is committed to continue the democratic struggle. “I must also emphasize that the stance of our Central Executive board on this issue is very clear, its decision is unshakable. This is the state of mind of all our organisations. Our people should also rely on their strength and should leave no room in their souls for doubt,” he said.
“Whatever the decision will be, no matter how the process will end up, the HDP will thwart all plans with this strong state of mind and with the support of the people. We will defend the HDP till the end: we will make the HDP live, no matter what, because the HDP is an idea. It will always stand firm for a bright future in Turkey because the HDP represents an idea which has strong roots, an idea that guarantees democratic co-existence in the Middle East.”
