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The Central Executive Board of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey held an ‘urgent’ meeting in Ankara. The HDP’s Co-Chairs, Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, issued a statement at a press conference soon afterwards.
The Co-Chairs spoke at the party headquarters and described the outcomes of the urgent meeting. The recent lawsuit seeking to permanently shut down the HDP and the removal of HDP MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu’s ‘MP status’ were the key concerns that were addressed.
Buldan: The HDP has never given up the democratic struggle
Buldan stated that the HDP has been the target of the Turkish government for years. Despite the fact that its former co-chairs, elected mayors, MP’s and countless members and activists have been imprisoned, the HDP, she emphasized, has never given up the democratic struggle for peace and justice.
“Including Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ, many of our friends are behind bars. Our friend Gergerlioğlu’s MP status has been removed, but he is not the only one. Musa Farisoğulları, Leyla Güven, Leyla Zana … There are many names in our past who had been subjected to the same injustice. This is the mentality of a coup. This is a coup on people’s free will”, Buldan said.
The HDP lawsuit is an outcome of the ‘isolation policy’
Buldan stated that the attempts to shut down the HDP are a result of the “isolation policies” that have mainly been applied on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan.
“Isolation is the main agenda of these people. Due to the lack of intent to address the Kurdish question, they have not only applied isolation to Mr. Öcalan but to the whole of society. The lawsuit that has been submitted against our party is an outcome of this isolation policy as well. Isolation is a humanitarian crime”, she said.
‘The HDP will continue to stand by the peoples and adopt democratic policies’
Buldan highlighted the HDP’s commitment to resist. “Whatever you do, we will continue to walk along the path we believe in: that is, to consider the agenda of the people as our top priority”, she said.
She urgently appealed to democratic forces in the country and around the world. “I would like to call upon the people and democratic forces: Do not lower your morale and energy, do not fall into despair or suspicion. It is time to show the AKP government the unified picture of all democratic forces. Yes, it is our duty to create a democratic atmosphere, where nobody is ignored, oppressed or jailed based on their thoughts and identities. The HDP will continue to stand by the peoples and adopt democratic policies”, she said.
Sancar: The HDP is a ‘strong idea’ which cannot be destroyed
Speaking after Buldan, Sancar stated that the Turkish government has driven the country into “darkness” with its “deadlocked policy” regarding the Kurdish question. “This process of a political coup is mainly carried out against the HDP, but the real purpose of this coup is to destroy the hope for democracy and belief in a free future. To speak frankly, the level of the political coup that has been reached after many processes has led to the institutionalisation of fascism”, Sancar said.
Sancar defined the HDP as a “strong idea” which cannot be destroyed by oppression, imprisonment and party closures. “They have thought in each of their attacks that the HDP will be destroyed, the HDP will be devestated, but the opposite has happened because the HDP is neither a party building nor a group of people. The HDP is a strong idea, the HDP ‘is’ the people. If it was so easy to destroy the people, the previous dictatorships would have preserved their existence forever. But none of them could achieve this goal”, he said.
‘The chief prosecutor takes only the will of the (presidental) palace into consideration’
Sancar spoke about the indictment that has been prepared against the HDP which seeks closure of the party. “The indictment is around, reported in the press and everywhere, but it has not been disclosed to us directly as yet. If you quickly have a look at the indictment, you will see that it is a document, which will be recorded in the history of law as a shameful one. The trials, which ended in acquittal, were shown as grounds for a ‘political ban’ for some of our friends”, he said.
Sancar further addressed the unlawful aspects of the indictment. “Our parliamentary speeches have been listed in the indictment as part of the grounds for accusations against us as well, but none of these should be used as grounds for a case to shut down a party, speaking in a legal context. The current constitution itself does not allow such a case for the closure of a party. The Office of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals has acted against the constitution, laws and international conventions and put them all aside. The chief prosecutor takes only the will of the (presidental) palace into consideration. Therefore, what we have to discuss about the indictment is not its compliance with the law, but with the quality of the political operation”, he concluded.
