The Inter-Parliamentary Union, (IPU) a global organisation of national parliaments shared a report regarding the situations of 67 People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MPs in Turkey including 11 imprisoned MPs, reported ANF.
The 145th Session of the IPU General Assembly was held in Kigali, Rwanda from 11-16 October. Hişyar Özsoy HDP Co-Chairperson for Foreign Relations, represented the HDP in the Turkish delegation.
The report prepared by the Human Rights Commission against the human rights violations of Turkey was voted upon and accepted.
Following a detailed judicial process of HDP MPs in Turkey and the European Courts, the IPU shared a list of decisions to ensure the political rights of the members of parliament.
It states that more than 600 terrorism charges have been brought against HDP deputies since 20 May 2016, 30 parliamentarians have been detained since 2018 and others face older charges in relation to the Kurdistan Communities Union (Koma Civakên Kurdistan – KCK) ongoing since 2011.
The report shared its view on the eleven current and former HDP parliamentarians who remain in prison and the thirteen HDP members of parliament who have lost their parliamentary mandates in recent years, largely due to the fact that their prison sentences became final.
According to the report since 2018, over 30 parliamentarians have been sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Since 4 November 2016, scores of parliamentarians have been detained and others have gone into political exile.
The IPU remained “deeply alarmed at the continued prospect of the dissolution of the HDP party, also bearing in mind that its predecessors were dissolved by court order; considers that this step shows once again that the authorities continue to view wrongly, the PKK and the HDP as one and the same entity; recalls in this regard that, while recognising that the two organisations rely largely on the same support base and pursue similar objectives, the HDP is a legal political party that does not in any way advocate violence to achieve its goals.”
The report continued that the IPU were concerned that the dissolution of the HPD will deprive not only HDP parliamentarians of their right to participate in public life, but also their electorate of their right to representation in the Turkish parliament and underlined that the European Court of Human Rights has already ruled that the dissolution or ban of a party is an extreme measure only justified as a last resort, in very exceptional circumstances, and that it has already handed down several rulings, notably against Turkey, in which the ban on a political party had been considered a human rights violation and so urged the Turkish authorities to do their utmost to comply with its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
The IPU also expressed its hope that the Turkish authorities will release Aysel Tuğluk, the former founding co-chair of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) as soon as possible due to her health condition. Tuğluk was diagnosed with dementia in prison.
“The Constitutional Court rejected a plea for her release but ordered that she receive regular neurological and psychiatric treatment in hospital,” said the IPU.
“The Turkish Parliament does nothing to dispel the doubts that the HDP parliamentarians have been targeted in connection with the legitimate exercise of their political rights; urges, therefore, the Turkish authorities to review their situation and, where possible, release them and terminate the criminal proceedings; and sincerely hopes that the authorities will release Ms. Aysel Tuğluk forthwith in light of her poor health” <blockquote>
The commision also shared their concerns that new possible legal proceedings could be prepared and brought against current HDP parliamentarians and called on the Turkish Parliament to ensure that their parliamentary immunity is scrupulously protected.
Speaking to Medya News, Hişyar Özsoy, the HDP representative of IPU said that as the HDP they have been in dialogue with the IPU since 2016, when many HDP MPs had their parliamentary immunity lifted by the Turkish parliament.
Özsoy said that IPU which has 178 member states has the only human rights committee that aims to protect the political actions and human rights of members of parliaments all around the world.
The Co-Chairperson for Foreign Relations, Özsoy also said that the IPU has taken this decision after Ravza Kavakça, the President of the Turkish delegation and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP and himself had made their speeches during the congress.
“Just like The Council of Europe, IPU also shared its view that HDP does not have any connection with terrorism and aims for plurality in Turkey,” Özsoy said.
Özsoy spoke about the upcoming elections in Turkey next year and mentioned the pluralistic and representative stand of HDP.
“HDP does not only include Kurds, but also the Alevis, Armenians, women and other identities who are oppresed for centuries and do not have any rights of representation.”
Since 2019, the IPU has followed the trials of former HDP co-chairs against Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, who have been imprisoned since 2016.
