The decision of Turkey’s Constitutional Court on Thursday to postpone the presentation of the defence in relation to the closure case against the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) does not end the uncertainty over the party’s fate before elections on 14 May, said the party’s deputy head.
Turkey’s top court this week announced two decisions concerning the HDP. The court removed the block it had imposed in January on treasury funds allocated to the party for the elections. It also postponed the date of the presentation of the defence for the HDP from 14 March to 11 April.
Many in Turkey interpreted the court’s decisions positively, but according to HDP deputy co-chair Serhat Eren, there is no difference between the two dates in terms of possible implications.
“By setting the date of oral defence for before 14 May, the Constitutional Court has allowed itself to intervene between us and the elections, it has given itself the opportunity to shape the elections,” Eren told the Cumhuriyet newspaper.
“Although there is a general understanding that this decision has paved the way for our party to run in the elections, this understanding is false,” he said, pointing out that the court could still decide in favour of closing the HDP before 14 May after the oral defence on 11 April.
“That is why we did not find the Constitutional Court’s decision to give us an additional month for defence as correct and lawful. This decision has not lifted the uncertainty hanging over our party. The Constitutional Court should finalise this uncertain process,” Eren said.
The HDP is aware of the risks and will not leave its fate at the hands of the Turkish judiciary or the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), according to Eren.
“We are aware that a decision concerning our party could be made just one day before 14 May,” he said, stressing that the HDP will design its election strategy in order to minimise any risks related to the closure trial.
Turkey’s highest court in June 2021 accepted an indictment that demands the closure of the HDP and a ban from active politics for almost 500 HDP members. The court originally set the date for the HDP’s oral defence after the chief state prosecutor of Turkey’s Court of Appeals presented the case against the HDP to the court on 10 January.
The HDP lodged an application straight away, asking the Constitutional Court to adjourn the closure case to after the elections.
