The new Turkey
 Osman Baydemir,
Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputie

10 April 2018

A Turkish appeals court has sentenced pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Burcu Çelik Özkan to prison for alleged terrorism propaganda, according to a report by the pro-Kurdish Mesopotamia news agency.

Özkan was sentenced to seven years, three months and 10 days on charges of disseminating propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). She had previously been given six years for the same offense by a lower court, but the sentence was dropped and the case retried on appeal.

“You will get the hell out of this place,” Özkan was accused in an indictment of having said to security personnel during the July 7, 2015 general election campaign. “We know well how to turn that Kalashnikov you are pointing at us back towards you.”

Prosecutors also said Özkan attended the funerals of PKK militants Berjin Demirkaya and Özgür Akınel and gave a eulogy at the funeral that constituted terrorist propaganda, charges she denied. “There is no concrete evidence that I attended the funeral,” Özkan said.

She also gave a different account of her actions in 2015 to that of the prosecution, saying that she had been opposing the presence of security forces at the ballot box intended to intimidate voters. “On July 7, 2015 I went to the towns of Sungu and Karaağaç with other candidate colleagues to see electoral and ballot box security in the field. There were security guards waiting at the ballot boxes with Kalashnikovs in Karaağaç,” Özkan said.

“We lodged our objections to them. We faced violence, insults and swearing from the village guards. They hit my hand with a gun.”

The court gave her five years for “threats making use of a terror organization’s power to frighten,” one year, three months for “terrorist organization propaganda” and one year, 10 days for “committing a crime in the name of a terrorist organization while not being a member of that organization.”

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday filed motions against eight HDP deputies for disseminating “terrorist propaganda,” demanding the removal of their immunity from prosecution, the state-run Anadolu agency reported.

According to the report, HDP deputies Osman Baydemir, Alican Önlü, Feleknas Uca, Sibel Yiğitalp, Nadir Yıldırım, Dilek Öcalan, Mizgin Irgat and Garo Paylan also were accused of “humiliating the Turkish nation, the Turkish state, government, military and police,” “violating the Political Parties Law” and “Insulting the president [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan].”

The prosecutor sent motions to the Justice Ministry to forward to the presidency of the Parliament for removal of the deputies’ immunity.

The prosecutor’s office also asked the Justice Ministry for permission to initiate an investigation into HDP deputies Baydemir and Botan for statements they made about a Turkish military operation and “humiliating the Turkish nation, military and police.”

The government’s crackdown on the Kurdish political movement began in late 2016 with the arrest of high-profile politicians, including the party’s then co-chairs, Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, which led to the detention of at least 5,000 members of the HDP, including 80 mayors. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast. Source

5 April 2018

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkey’s Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling sentencing Osman Baydemir, a People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MP, to one year, five months and 15 days in jail for “insulting” the police. As a result of the conviction, he could lose his seat in parliament.

Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet claims Baydemir could be thrown out of parliament because another HDP deputy lost his seat for “insulting the president."

HDP spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen confirmed to Rudaw English that Baydemir could possibly be stripped of his parliamentary status. 

"Whenever it is sent to the parliament, it will be under the authority of the speaker of the parliament," he explained. 

Ahmed Yildirim, HDP deputy to Mus province, lost his seat in parliament on February 27 after he was sentenced to one year and two months in jail for “insulting the president.” He called Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “parody king” when he moved to cement power in his office by ending the parliamentary system and adopting an executive presidency.

Baydemir was accused of insulting the police when he was governor of Diyarbakir in 2012. He challenged the ruling, which was upheld by a second court in Gaziantep on February 23, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

Cumhuriyet explained that once the Turkish prime minister sends an official letter to parliament to drop Baydemir’s membership, Baydemir will no longer be an MP.

Baydemir caused a stir late last year when he declared in the Turkish parliament that Kurdistan exists in his heart, earning himself a suspension from the legislature.

Nine HDP lawmakers have already been stripped of their parliamentary positions after being convicted of alleged ties with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Source

13 Dec. 2017

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şanlıurfa deputy Osman Baydemir was dismissed from parliament’s General Assembly on Dec. 13 for referring to his electoral area as “Kurdistan” in an address.

In line with parliament’s new internal regulations, Baydemir has been banned from two additional General Assembly sessions and two thirds of his monthly salary will be cut.

“I, as a child of the Kurdish people, as a representative from Kurdistan, have such a role,” he had said in a speech.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Ayşenur Bahçekapılı subsequently asked where he meant by “Kurdistan,” after which Baydemir held his hand on his heart and answered: “This is where Kurdistan is.”

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Group Chair Mustafa Elitaş also reacted against Baydemir’s remarks, urging for parliament’s internal regulations to be upheld.

Bahçekapılı then said she would put to a vote whether to ban the HDP deputy, which was accepted by MPs present. Deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the HDP did not participate in the vote, with HDP deputies reminding Bahçekapılı that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had also used the word “Kurdistan” before.

“The honored president also used this word. But pay attention to the context he used it in. Google it and you will understand the context in which the president used it,” Bahçekapılı said in response.

Following the approval of the ban on Baydemir, who will not be able to join the General Assembly on Dec. 14 and 15, HDP deputies protested the decision and walked out of parliament.

The internal regulations of parliament were recently overhauled, introducing sanctions on any deputy who uses the terms “Armenian genocide” and “Kurdistan” in addresses to the General Assembly.

Deputies who use the term are banned from a total of three General Assembly sessions and two thirds of their salary are cut.

This sanction is also valid for MPs who describe Turkey’s southeastern region as “Kurdistan” and provinces in this region as “Kurdish provinces.”

Baydemir is the first deputy to be banned from parliament within the context of these new regulations.Source