The Turkish Ministry of Interior has announced that legal proceedings have been opened against Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan over a speech he made on 4 November. The investigation also targets DEM’s Mardin provincial leader, Mehmet Mihdi Tunç for a similar statement he made on the same day.
According to an official statement from the Ministry, the case is related to Bakırhan’s remarks on the recent appointments of trustees in the municipalities of Mardin (Merdîn), Batman (Elîh) and Halfeti (Xelfêtî). Bakırhan, who is also a Siirt deputy, emphasised the themes of peace, dialogue and negotiation in his speech, saying: “We carry peace, dialogue and negotiation in our hearts. Sacrifices, pain, losses and exile have been paid for these aspirations and we want them to come to an end”.
The Ministry’s move was criticised by officials from the DEM Party. Spokeswoman Ayşegül Doğan condemned the investigation as an attempt to silence the party.
Speaking to the press, Doğan said: “It is clear that what they have in their pockets, as our co-chair said, is trusteeship and investigations. This is an attempt to suppress the DEM Party. The content of Bakırhan’s speech is transparent, but it has been distorted with malicious intent, even in violation of the law”.
Doğan went on to emphasise the party’s stance against such actions: “Tuncer Bakırhan’s words spoke of peace and democratic values, but they were twisted to create false accusations. This shows that the government is determined to continue its repressive policies. Our party and our leaders have endured similar tactics in the past, but we remain steadfast. We will not be intimidated by these attempts to undermine our commitment to justice and dialogue.”
Doğan went on to claim that Bakırhan’s words were being manipulated to suggest implications not intended by the speaker. “Of course, our co-chair emphasises that we will defend our democratic right to protest and resist against this usurpation. We will continue our struggle,” she concluded.
