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CHP deputies

Last update: 23-Jan-2021 8:53

13 January 2021:
Proceedings Against Parliamentary Members
It is learned from the news coverage of January 13, 2021 that, 10 proceedings demanding lift of impunity of 10 parliamentary members are submitted to Grand National Assembly.

Parliamentary members subjected to proceedings are: HDP co-chair and Istanbul MP Pervin Buldan, HDP group deputy chair and Siirt MP Meral Danış Beştaş, HDP group deputy chair and Istanbul MP Hakkı Saruhan Oruç, HDP Diyarbakır MP Garo Paylan, HDP Istanbul MP Hüda Kaya, HDP Van MP Sezai Temelli, HDP Mardin MP Pero Dündar, HDP Mersin MP Fatma Kurtulan, HDP Izmir MP Serpil Kemalbay, HDP Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu.

15 December 2020:

Indictment seeks 10.5 years for opposition politician in case involving Erdoğan aide

An indictment drafted by an İstanbul prosecutor seeks a jail sentence of up to 10-and-a-half years for a politician from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on separate charges due to her alleged role in the photographing of the house of a presidential aide.

İstanbul prosecutors in April started investigating CHP İstanbul provincial executive Canan Kaftancıoğlu for allegedly “promoting crime and criminals,” “praising crime and criminals” and “violating privacy” over a tweet in support of Suat Özçağdaş, a fellow member of the CHP İstanbul provincial organization who was already under investigation for allegedly photographing the house of Fahrettin Altun, the communications director of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Özçağdaş reportedly photographed Altun’s house after a public controversy erupted over Altun’s illegal construction on land adjacent to his own that he leased from a public authority for a monthly fee of only TL 258 ($33). In his statement to the prosecutors, Özçağdaş reportedly said he received orders from Kaftancıoğlu to photograph Altun’s house. Read the full article

3 December 2020:
Istanbul opposition deputy mayor remanded in custody for terror links

The deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Şişli district has been remanded in custody on terrorism charges, state-run Anadolu Agency said on Thursday. Cihan Yavuz of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was among 17 people detained last week accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK),

Four of those held, including Yavuz, have now been charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation”, Anadolu said. Police operations against political figures have largely targeted the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including sweeping detentions late last month. 

But officials from other political parties have also been increasingly caught up in the crackdown. The CHP’s mayor for Izmir’s Urla district, İbrahim Burak Oğuz, was arrested on terrorism charges in December 2019. 

CHP member of parliament Enis Berberoğlu was stripped of his seat in the national assembly in June alongside HDP colleagues Leyla Güven and Musa Farisoğulları following criminal convictions, a move opponents say was politically motivated.

11 November 2020:
Proceedings Against Parliamentary Members
It is learned from the news coverage of November 10, 2020 that, 5 proceedings demanding lift of impunity of 5 parliamentary members are submitted to Grand National Assembly.

Parliamentary members subjected to proceedings are: HDP İzmir MP Serpil Kemalbay, HDP Tunceli MP Alican Önlü, HDP Iğdır MP Habip Eksik, CHP Group Deputy and İstanbul MP Engin Altay, CHP İstanbul MP Aykut Erdoğdu.

23 June 2020:

Turkish court upholds prison sentence for main opposition Istanbul chair Kaftancıoğlu

An appeals court in Ankara has upheld a prison sentence for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul provincial chairwoman Canan Kaftancıoğlu, on charges including terrorist propaganda and insulting the president, Habertürk reported on Tuesday.

Kaftancıoğlu was sentenced to nine years, eight months and 20 days in prison in September of 2019 on a string of charges, including  "insulting the president," "inciting people to animosity and hatred," and "conducting propoganda for a terrorist organisation."

The Istanbul provincial head became a rising star in the opposition after the March 31 local elections, and is credited as the person behind the CHP's victory in Istanbul, which had been controlled by Islamist parties since 1994.

The ruling arrives on the anniversary of a revote in Istanbul after the ruling Justice and Development Party contested the initial polls. Kaftancıoğlu may appeal the decision with the Supreme Court.

22 June 2020:

Turkey suspends main opposition CHP mayor in northwestern province of Balıkesir

The Turkish Interior Ministry has dismissed a main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayor in the northwestern province of Balıkesir after a court upheld a jail sentence on charges of tender corruption. The dismissal of Erdek mayor Hüseyin Sarı follows the approval of a one-month, 15-day jail sentence over two separate cases of corruption in municipal tenders, Birgün newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The court in the northwestern town of Bandırma ruled that Sarı had  “intentionally prevented free competition in both tenders and ensured the tenders took place with only one participant,” Birgün said.

This is not Sarı’s first removal from the mayoral seat. In March of 2019, the CHP mayor was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, prompting the Interior Ministry to suspend him from his post.  Sarı was re-elected as mayor of Erdek in the local elections of March 2019, receiving 52 percent support.

2 June 2020.

Turkey suspends main opposition CHP mayor in northwestern province of Balıkesir

The Turkish Interior Ministry has dismissed a main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) mayor in the northwestern province of Balıkesir after a court upheld a jail sentence on charges of tender corruption. The dismissal of Erdek mayor Hüseyin Sarı follows the approval of a one-month, 15-day jail sentence over two separate cases of corruption in municipal tenders, Birgün newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The court in the northwestern town of Bandırma ruled that Sarı had  “intentionally prevented free competition in both tenders and ensured the tenders took place with only one participant,” Birgün said.

This is not Sarı’s first removal from the mayoral seat. In March of 2019, the CHP mayor was sentenced to 11 months and 20 days in prison for insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, prompting the Interior Ministry to suspend him from his post.  Sarı was re-elected as mayor of Erdek in the local elections of March 2019, receiving 52 percent support.

4 June 2020:

The third deputy stripped of his seat, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) member Enis Berberoğlu, was detained an hour after Güven. Berberoğlu had announced earlier that he would be going to the court house early Friday morning of his own volition.

"Why such tyranny for a person who would go to the prosecutor's office himself tomorrow?" tweeted CHP deputy Tuncay Özkan as he announced Berberoğlu's detention.

In 2017, Berberoğlu was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his part in revealing to the public images that appeared to show Turkish intelligence services shipping weapons to Syrian rebels. His sentence was later reduced to five years. Read the full article

25 April 2020:

Prison sentence requested for former CHP lawmaker Eren Erdem

The chief public prosecutor's office of the Turkish appeals court has requested that a prison sentence of four years and two months be approved for former main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Eren Erdem, Anadolu news agency said.

Eren Erdem was detained in June 2018 over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which Ankara designates as a terrorist organisation and accuses of masterminding the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt. Erdem was put on trial over his work during his time as the editor-in-chief of Karşı newspaper.

Erdem was acquitted from charges of “revealing the identity of a secret witness” and “violating the confidentiality of a criminal investigation,” but sentenced to prison for “aiding a terrorist organisation purposely and willingly without being involved in the hierarchy of the organisation.”

In January 2019, a Turkish court ordered Erdem’s release due to time he served during the trial. Istanbul’s chief prosecutor’s office objected to the decision, and a new arrest order was issued by a higher court for his immediate re-arrest. Erdem was released on probation in October. Anadolu news agency said that the latest prison sentence request was sent to the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court who will make a final decision regarding the case.

10 March 2020:

Opposition CHP claims gov’t unlawfully removing officials from office

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) has accused Turkey’s ruling party of unlawfully removing its members from municipal offices, news website Diken reported on Tuesday. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) is confiscating CHP municipalities they could not win through elections, it quoted CHP spokesman Faik Öztrak as saying, referring to the local elections of March last year.

Öztrak’s statement follows the removal of Vefa Salman, mayor of the northwestern province of Yalova, and his deputy, Halit Güleç, from office by the Interior Ministry on Feb. 27 as part of a corruption probe. They were both charged with aggravated fraud, forgery of official documents, corruption and other criminal conducts, according to the related legislation.

The ministry had said inspectors found that the municipality's incomes were being transferred to an account normally used to collect taxes and fees, and that payments worth 11.5 million lira ($1.85 million) were made to unknown people.

 “It wasn’t enough that they [the AKP] removed through the order of the Interior Ministry our mayor in Yalova for unveiling corruption. They then ensured the election of an AKP deputy chairman on the Yalova city council,’’ Öztrak said. “They have seized the will of the people in Yalova,’’ he added.

19 December 2019:

CHP politician acquitted of “insulting the president”

The second hearing in the trial of former CHP lawmaker Zeynep Altıok Akatlı on the charge of “insulting the president” took place on 19 December 2019 at Urla 1st Criminal Court of First Instance.

Announcing its verdict at the end of the hearing, the court acquitted Altıok. She was accused over a social media post in support of students who were arrested for carrying a banner featuring a cartoon titled “Tayyipler Alemi” during Middle East Technical University’s (ODTÜ) 2018 graduation ceremony.

12 November 2019:

Turkey revokes security detail assigned to prominent opposition figure

The Turkish government has revoked a protective detail it previously assigned to Canan Kaftancıoğlu, a prominent member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) who was recently sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and spreading terrorist propaganda, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported on Monday. Kaftancıoğlu is currently free on bail pending appeal.

Kaftancıoğlu was notified of the decision on Saturday in a document handed to her by police officers. No justification was provided for the move. In a handwritten note that she added under her acknowledgment of having been served the notification, Kaftancıoğlu underlined that she was not given any reason for the decision and that “the interior ministry bears responsibility for anything that might happen to me.” She tweeted that she is not afraid and that the decision was trivial.

CHP deputy Gökan Zeybek submitted a written parliamentary question directed to Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu inquiring if he was aware of the move and whether he assumes responsibility for any security problems she might encounter. The head of the CHP’s İstanbul branch, Kaftancıoğlu is famous for her role in her party’s local election victory in İstanbul.

She stood trial for allegedly insulting President Erdoğan and spreading terrorist propaganda and was handed down a prison sentence of nine years, eight months in September, which she is appealing with a higher court.She was elevated to “special protection” status by authorities after she and her family received death threats. She was also the target of attacks by Turkey’s pro-government media.

28 October 2019:
Main opposition lawmakers face trial over insulting Turkish president

Sixty officials from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) are facing charges of insulting the president over the party's statement on the 2016 failed coup attempt, left-leaning daily Birgün reported on Monday.

Following the failed putsch of July 15, 2016, which Ankara maintains was orchestrated by followers of the Islamist cleric Fethullah Gülen, the 60 members of the CHP party council, the party’s highest body, released a statement criticising the ruling party and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over their links to the Gülen movement.

The statement accused Erdoğan and Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of helping the Gülen movement to infiltrate Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

Years before ruling party listed his movement as a terrorist group, Gülen and his followers were praised and supported by top AKP officials during a period when Gülenists in the judiciary and police forces are widely believed to have targeted secularist state officials and military officers in a series of discredited trials.

During the trials, Erdoğan famously declared himself to be the prosecutor to signal his support for the legal action. Courts later overturned the trials, and the president said his party had been tricked by Gülenists.

Responding to the charges against the CHP, party council member and Eskişehir deputy Gaye Usluer said Erdoğan was hiding behind his position as president to undermine his critics.

In Turkey, insulting the president carries a jail sentence of between one and four years.

The Turkish government has charged thousands of citizens for insulting Erdoğan in social media posts, cartoons, news reports and other media since he assumed office as president in 2014.

7 November 2019:

Zeynep Altıok appears in court for “insulting the president”

Former CHP lawmaker Zeynep Altıok appeared in court for the first hearing of her trial for allegedly “insulting the president” on social media, at the 1st Urla Criminal Court of First Instance on 7 November 2019.

Altıok is on trial for supporting students who were arrested for carrying a banner featuring a cartoon titled “Tayyipler Alemi” during a graduation ceremony of the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) at the time when she was the CHP General Deputy Chair responsible for Human Rights.

Accepting the request of Altıok’s lawyers for additional time, the court adjourned the trial until 19 December 2019.

14 October 2019:

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an investigation against main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu due to his social media messages and statements about "Operation Peace Spring" launched by Turkey into northern Syria on October 9.

Releasing a written statement about the issue, the Prosecutor's Office has announced that the investigation has been launched against the MP due to his statement "The Government needs to know that: It is an unjust war, it is a war waged against the Kurds" shared on his Twitter account on October 12 and an interview given by him to some media organizations on the same day.

Referring to these statements, the Prosecutor's Office has charged Tanrıkulu with "openly degrading the State of the Republic of Turkey".