Abdullah Zeydan, the pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) co-mayoral candidate for the Van (Wan) metropolitan municipality, faces a legal hurdle that threatens to overshadow Sunday’s election victory as the Ministry of Justice challenges the restoration of his civil rights.
The Justice Ministry’s last-minute attempt to strip DEM Party Abdullah Zeydan of his right to stand for election has prompted major political mobilisation, with DEM Party Co-chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları, along with the party’s entire Central Executive Committee and regional MPs, set to protest in person in Van city. A press conference is scheduled on the matter at the party’s headquarters at 14:00.
The DEM Party announced earlier on 2 April that the Ministry of Justice had challenged the restitution of Zeydan’s previously forfeited rights just minutes before the close of legal hours, two days before polls were due to open.
The DEM Party achieved an unprecedented victory across Van, winning all 14 local councils in the province and securing a decisive lead in the provincial general assembly in local elections that revealed a significant shift in public support away from Turkey’s ruling party.
Even though Zeydan’s eligibility was confirmed by the Supreme Election Board (YSK) with the completion of all legal procedures and the passing of a legal review, the last-minute objection by the Ministry of Justice has led to a legal challenge against the decision to restore his banned rights.
Over the Ministry’s objection, the decision that had initially restored these rights was reversed, effectively reinstating the ban on Zeydan’s civil rights, including the right to stand for election.
In a statement, the DEM Party highlighted their victory in Van as a historic achievement and stressed that the reversal of the court’s decision to restore Zeydan’s civil rights undermines the principle of legal certainty and disregards the will of the people, describing it as a manoeuvre that negates the democratic process.
The party demanded an immediate retraction of this “unlawful decision”, describing the move as illegal and an affront to the democratic expression of the people of Van. It calls on all democratic forces to oppose this attempt to overturn the will of the people, reiterating that respect for the people’s choice is a fundamental principle of democracy.
Restoration of Prohibited Rights – legal framework
Restitution of Forfeited Rights, otherwise known as the Restoration of Prohibited Rights, is a criminal law provision that provides for the removal of various deprivations of rights established by laws other than the Turkish Penal Code on the basis of a specific crime or criminal conviction.
According to the Turkish Penal Code, after a person has served the term of imprisonment for the crime committed, the related deprivation of rights is also removed.
However, special provisions in some laws mean deprivations of rights may still be in force even after the completion of the sentence.
The provision of restitution of rights is a regulation introduced to prevent people from having to endure these deprivations of rights for the rest of their lives.
Zeydan’s political ban
Zeydan was detained in November 2016 along with several Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MPs, including the party’s co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, and charged with attending the funerals of members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but also of the People’s Protection Forces (YPG), who were fighting against the Islamic State (ISIS).
In January 2018, Zeydan was sentenced to eight years in prison for allegedly supporting an illegal organisation. In 2021, the prosecutor of the Court of Cassation filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court demanding that Zeydan and 686 other HDP politicians be banned from participating in politics for five years. The lawsuit was filed together with a request for the closure of the HDP.
Zeydan was released from prison in January 2022.
