The Turkish Constitutional Court (AYM) ruled on Thursday to temporarily block the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) accounts where the party receives Treasury support as part of an ongoing case to shut down the party, over the request of the Court of Cassation Chief Prosecutor Bekir Şahin.
“The decision to block our Treasury support accounts is a usurpation of rights by the government’s order,” said the HDP via Twitter. “This decision aims to hinder a just and democratic election process and to ignore the will of the voters.”
With this ruling of the AYM, the second-largest opposition party in the country will not be able to use the treasury aid it was due to receive in 2023.
The decision was taken by a majority of eight votes against seven, according to Birgün newspaper.
Prosecutor Şahin argued in his petition that the HDP “maintained organic ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)”, repeating what the party calls baseless allegations, and said Treasury resources were “being transferred to the terrorist organisation”. The ruling comes a week after Şahin’s office submitted documents to the AYM in support of the allegations, while the party denies all charges.
If the top court rules to shut down the HDP, more than 450 of its top officials, including MPs, mayors and chapter administrators will be banned from holding public office. The current case is based on a June 2021 indictment.
