The government is trying every possible method to design the political scene in coming months, as Turkey heads towards the most critical election, to be held almost a century after the foundation of the Republic, said Mithat Sancar, co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) on Tuesday.
Sancar addressed his party’s parliamentary group, while the chief prosecutor of the Turkish Appeals Court was presenting his oral statement to the country’s Constitutional Court, demanding the closure of the HDP.
Turkey’s supreme court last week ruled in favour of freezing the party’s Treasury accounts, stripping it of funds prior to the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections.
Sancar said that the judicial attempt to close down the pro-Kurdish party was led by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the far-right coalition partner of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
“It is the political scheme of those who cannot defeat the HDP politically, those who cannot make the HDP bow down through pressure and persecution,” Sancar said in relation to the case evaluated by the Constitutional Court.
The politician pointed out that the same prosecutor had previously applied twice to the court, demanding the HDP’s Treasury accounts be frozen, but the court had denied the request both times. However, this time the MHP campaigned that HDP should not receive funds from the Treasury, and the court approved to cut the funds upon the third request.
Sancar recalled that ahead of elections in 2015 the HDP had received no funds from the Treasury, but nevertheless received over 13 percent of the vote, surprising many who believed the pro-Kurdish party would not pass the 10 percent election threshold. The HDP, in its first election, won 80 seats in the parliament, while the AKP lost its parliamentary majority required to form the government. Following attempts to establish a coalition with other political parties, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for snap elections in November the same year, and ignited a brutal crackdown against Kurdish politicians.
“This operation is not limited to the HDP, it is not only limited to targeting the HDP,” Sancar said. “Turkey is heading towards its most critical elections, we all know it. This government, fearing for its survival, is trying everything possible ahead of these critical elections. The injustices -unfair decisions against us- are made in order to design this process,” he added.
The politician said the governing parties will not be able to change the results of the elections through threats, blackmail and scheming.
“You will lose big. We will altogether win big, while you are losing,” Sancar said.