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HDP deputies

Last update: 05-Mar-2021 9:52


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Some HDP deputies who are wanted, arrested, imprisoned, accused, convicted or acquitted.
Aca-Kamil Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) member and businessman
Erkan Acar Başkale co-mayor. Was detained on 6 Dec. 2019 as part of an investigation overseen by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Agaoglu-Gulsum HDP Central Executive Board Member
Akdoğan-Nihat

HDP Hakkari MP. Was arrested. 7 November 2016.

Aksu-Ahmet

Local HDP politician. Were arrested 30 Nove,ber 2018 on terrorism charges, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.

Aksoy-Halil MP from 24th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.
Almaç-Yakup Özalp co-mayor. Was detained on 6 Dec. 2019 as part of an investigation overseen by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Anlı-Fırat Co-mayor of Diyarbakır. Was sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison. Charges that he had disseminated the propaganda of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
Ay-Sedat HDP general assembly member, was arrested 24 July 2019.
Aydeniz-Salihe Diyarbakır deputie. Proposal to lift immunity of HDP deputies submitted to Parliament
Aydoğan-Nursel 

The Turkish parliament has stripped of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Nursel Aydoğan of her status as a member of parliament, after a Prime Ministry motion read at the start of a parliamentary session on May 9, 2017.

Ayhan- İbrahim

Was sentenced to 15 months in prison for sharing a photo from the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane during the fight with the Islamic State (ISIS). He was convicted of sharing terrorist propaganda.

Balkan-Leyla Muradiye district co-mayor. Was detained on 6 Dec. 2019 as part of an investigation overseen by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Baluken-İdris

HDP lawmaker from Van, Nadir Yıldırım, was detained on Jan. 30 (2017) while he was present at the hearing of HDP Diyarbakır lawmaker İdris Baluken at the Diyarbakır 8th Court of Serious Crimes. Yıldırım, who was the subject of a subpoena, was released after his testimony was taken.

Baluken, meanwhile, was released on Jan. 30 in the first hearing of his case. He was arrested on Nov. 4, 2016, on several charges, including “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.” 
After being released from prison in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, Baluken said his release was not news but the fact that one of the party’s co-chair, Selahattin Demirtaş, was still in jail was noteworthy. MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.

Bas-Erkan

People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul MP

Başaran-Ayşe-Acar

On July 31, 2017, HDP Batman MP Ayşe Acar Başaran was taken into custody in Batman Airport as she wanted to travel to Ankara and was released the next day.

Başkale- District Co-Mayor of Muradiye. Were taken into custody in the early morning hours today (December 6) on the ground that there are ongoing investigations against them conducted by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
Baydemir-Osman

Osman Baydemir were relieved of his duties after being convicted of terror organisation membership and insulting the police respectively. Was found guilty for "violating the law on meetings and demonstrations" and sentensed to 18 months in prison.

Berk-Edip

Former HDP MP Berk, Party Assembly Member

Bestas-Meral-Dams

Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie

Bilgen-Ayhan

Bilgen was detained early on Jan. 29 (2017) in the Esenboğa Airport in Ankara and taken to Diyarbakır.  He was referred to court with the prosecutor demanding his arrest for “being a member of an armed terrorist organization,” but he was released on condition of judicial control that included an overseas travel ban. Bilgen, however, was detained in Diyarbakır again on Jan. 30 before being formally arrested on Jan. 31 (2017).

Birlik-Leyla

Received a one-year-and-nine-month prison sentence for “insulting the president,” according to a judicial source.
Was found guilty for "violating the law on meetings and demonstrations" and sentensed to 18 months in prison.

Botan-Lezgin

Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie

Beştaş-Meral Danış

Beştaş was arrested on Jan. 31 (2017) arrested on accusations of “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.”

Beştaş was previously detained on Jan. 28 as part of a terror probe but was released on condition of judicial control. After the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office objected to the release, an arrest warrant was issued for her. 

Botan-Lezgin

HDP Van lawmaker Lezgin Botan was detained at the Ferit Melen Airport over a detention warrant issued by Van 2nd Court of Serious Crimes.

Botan was accused of “making terror propaganda,” “inciting crime” and being a member of “an armed terrorist organization,” with the prosecutor demanding 40 years in prison. He was later released on condition of judicial control after his testimony was taken. 

Bulbul-Kemal Elected to the Turkish Parliament in the June 24 general election from the ranks of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP),
Buldan-Pervin On June 13, 2017,HDP İstanbul MP and Group Deputy Chairperson Pervin Buldan who was taken into custody on June 12, 2017, was released.
Proposal to lift immunity of HDP deputies submitted to Parliament
Çelebi-Orhan Akpazar Town Mayor 
Celik-Burcu On April 19, 2017, HDP Muş Burcu Çelik was arrested.
Çetin-Yıldız Erciş Mayor 
Çevik-Ahmet Hazro Mayor
Çiçek-Cengiz  

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul branch co-chair Cengiz Çiçek  was detained on April 28 2018 after the police had raided a public meeting held by the HDP in İstanbul.  The court accepted posters displaying jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and other PKK members as evidence of “terrorist propaganda.”

Dağ-Dersim Diyarbakır deputie. Proposal to lift immunity of HDP deputies submitted to Parliament
Demir-Filiz-Kerestecioglu Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) parlement deputy. Erdogan on 28 November 2018 demanded from the country’s Parliament to strip the leaders of the main and Kurdish opposition parties of immunity. 
Demirel-Çağlar Was 17 June 2017 currently in prison over alleged terror charges.
HDP group deputy chairman Çağlar Demirel was among the ones that a subpoena was issued for by the Diyarbakır Second Heavy Penal Court, Anadolu Agency reported.

Çağlar Demirel, deputie from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has been handed down a prison sentence of 90 months on terror charges. MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.
Demirtas-Nurettin  
Demirtaş-Selahattin On February 21, 2017, HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş was sentenced to 5 months in prison on charge of "Insulting Turkish nation, Republic of Turkey and its institutions and bodies". MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.
Diken-Belgin Yenişehir Mayor 
Doğan-Aziz Local HDP politician. Were arrested 30 Nove,ber 2018 on terrorism charges, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.
Duman-Caziye Saray Mayor 
Dundar-Pero Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) member who are also standing as parliamentary candidate.
   
Encu-Ferhat

A majority of lawmakers at the Turkish parliament on Tuesday voted in favor of removing a fellow MP, Ferhat Encu of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), from his elected post over conviction at a court for “terrorist propaganda.” MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.

Erden-Songül İdil Mayor 
Erdoğmuş-Nimetullah Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie. Erdogan on 28 November 2018 demanded from the country’s Parliament to strip the leaders of the main and Kurdish opposition parties of immunity. 
Ertan-Bedia-Ozgokce Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie. Erdogan on 28 November 2018 demanded from the country’s Parliament to strip the leaders of the main and Kurdish opposition parties of immunity.
Van Metropolitan Mayor
Farisoğullari-Musa Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır deputie.  Were stripped off MP status due to "terrorism-related" prison sentences. 
   
Gergerlioglu-Omer-Faruk Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker and member of Turkey's Human Rights Inquiry Committee
Geveri-Adem Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie
Göksu-Melike Karayazı Mayor 
Güven-Leyla Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) member who are also standing as parliamentary candidate.
   
Hezer-Tugba

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker. Turkey's Constitutional Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by two Kurdish lawmakers, Tugba Hezer of the Van Province and Faysal Sariyildiz of the Sirnak Province, to reverse a decision on their ouster from the Parliament two months ago.

   
   
Ilhan-Ilsris Former member from the HDP of Siirt’s general provincial council
Imir-Nuran Proposal to lift immunity of HDP deputies submitted to Parliament
Irgat-Mizgin -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].”
Irmak-Selma MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.Wwas relieved of her duties in the parlament after being convicted of terror organisation membership and insulting the police respectively.

Isleyici-Merve Nur

A Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) official who survived an Islamic State (ISIS) bombing with mild concussed in 2015 was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison on charges of belonging to the illegal Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), leftwing news agency Etkin said .

Merve Nur İşleyici was among six female HDP members studying at Süleyman Demirel University and Pamukkale University who were sentenced to long prison terms after attending a memorial demonstration for Sakine Cansız, a PKK member killed under suspicious circumstances in Paris, Etkin said.

İşleyici, presently an HDP board member in the Isparta province, told the court that she had merely expressed her opinion in statements to the press at the event, which was held at the time of the peace process, during which there was no active conflict between Turkey and the PKK.

Her lawyer, Erkan Metin, said he would appeal the ruling.

“The decision is completely subjective and unjust,” he said. “It is an illegal, political decision.”

İşleyici had attended a press conference of leftist students preparing to visit the majority-Kurdish Syrian city of Kobane in the border town of Suruç in 2015 when an ISIS suicide bomber launched an attack, killing himself and 33 others and injuring 104.

“Suddenly I saw a ball of fire in front of me,” İşleyici wrote of the incident. “My ears went deaf. Everywhere was bright white. Then I fell unconscious.”

When she came to, she found herself in a heap of bodies.

“My ears could not hear anything, but there were shredded organs and pieces of flesh on every hair of my head. I remember looking at my hands, and then fainting."

 

 

 

 

Karaman-Cihan Mayor of Hakkari
Kaya-Sara Co-Mayor of Nusaybin
Karvar-Hasan

Local HDP politician. Were arrested 30 Nove,ber 2018 on terrorism charges, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.

Keresteci-Filiz Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie
Kısa-Abuzer Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Ankara head
Kışanak-Gültan Former lawmaker of the dominantly Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP)Kışanak was arrested in October 2016. Was sentenced to 14 years and three months in prison. Charges that he had disseminated the propaganda of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
Konca- Besime

Was stripped of her lawmaker status after the definitive court ruling against her was read aloud in the first session of parliament on Oct. 3, 2017.

Kurkcu-Ertugrul

Former lawmaker from HDP. Sentenced to 2 years in jail on terrorism charges,

Kut-Ferhat

Co-mayor of Nusaybin in the southeastern province of MardinWas detained 24 July 2019 in an investigation by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s office

Mizrakli-Adnan-Selcuk New co-mayors of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır elected on Sunday’s local polls
Content 19
Nazlıer-Rojda Kocaköy Mayor 
Nergiz-Semire Nusaybin Mayor
Ocalan-Dilek

- 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].”

Onder-Sırrı-Sureyya

Former HDP MP. Was given 42 month in prison for "propagandizing for a terror organization." MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018. Was released 4. October 2019.

Onlu-Alican

- 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].”

Örenci-Dilan Özalp co-mayor. Was detained on 6 Dec. 2019 as part of an investigation overseen by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Örmek-Nursel HDP assembly member for the eastern province of Diyarbakır.
Özalp- District Co-Mayor of Muradiye. Were taken into custody in the early morning hours today (December 6) on the ground that there are ongoing investigations against them conducted by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
Ozer-Gulsen Reserve member of the HDP Party Assembly.
Co- mayor of Bismil in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, was detained 24 July 2019 in an investigation by the Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s office
Ozkan-Burcu-Celik

- was sentenced to seven years, three months and 10 days on charges of disseminating propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.

Özhanlı-Şafak MP from 25th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.
Öztürk-Berdan

attended the rally along with HDP lawmakers and representatives. ...complaint was filed on Nov. 19 against Ağrı deputy Berdan Öztürk,...... for paying a condolence visit to a funeral house in Diyarbakır.

Öztürk-Tuğba Hezer

Tuğba Hezer Öztürk, an HDP lawmaker from the eastern province of Van, was stripped of her parliamentary seat on June 14 after not attending talks in parliament for nearly a year.

Paylan-Garo

.....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].”

Pir-Ziya

The charges include “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organisation”, “publicly insulting the Turkish nation, military and security forces”, “praising crime and criminals”, and “insulting the president”.

   
Sari-Irfan Co-mayor of the province’s Yüksekova district
Sahin-Edibe MP from 25th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.
Şalan-Yılmaz Muradiye district co-mayor. Was detained on 6 Dec. 2019 as part of an investigation overseen by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Sarısaç-Murat Proposal to lift immunity of HDP deputies submitted to Parliament
Sariyildiz-Murat Faysal

The move to strip Faysal Sariyildiz of his status was read out in parliament after an appeal to remove their membership was submitted and voted on.

Sertkaya-Ahmet-Turan

Local HDP politician. Were arrested 30 Nove,ber 2018 on terrorism charges, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.

Sik-Ahmat Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentarian
Proposal to lift immunity of HDP deputies submitted to Parliament
Surucu-Ayse Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Şanlıurfa deputy. Faces a prison sentence between one-and-a-half and three years for attending a ceremony in 2016 in the southeastern town of Halfeti.
   
Tas-Mehnet-Fatih Kulp Mayor
Tascier-Imam

Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie
Erdogan on 28 November 2018 demanded from the country’s Parliament to strip the leaders of the main and Kurdish opposition parties of immunity. 

Taşdemir- Dirayet

The trial for eight lawmakers started on Sept. 5, as the lawyers of the deputies were present in the court room. The lawmakers......., Dirayet Taşdemir,...., didn’t participate in the hearing, as the court issued a subpoena for the next hearing. 

Tekin-Esref Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) party official. Have been detained in dawn police raids in the southeastern city of Siirt after discovering massive irregularities on the electoral roll.
Temel-Tayyip Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) member who are also standing as parliamentary candidate.
Temelli- Sezai Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair. Temelli is facing charges of “making terrorist propaganda” and “insulting the Turkish nation, the Turkish Republic and the state’s institutions and bodies,”
Tiryaki-Mehmet-Rustu Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Batman deputie
Togrul-Mahmut Peoples’ Democratic Party parliament deputie.

Erdogan on 28 November 2018 demanded from the country’s Parliament to strip the leaders of the main and Kurdish opposition parties of immunity. 

Tosun- Remziye

Handed 10-year prison sentence on terrorism charges

Tuğluk-Aysel MP from 23th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.
Tuncel-Sebahat DBP Co-Chair. Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.
Turhan-Cemal Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) party official. Have been detained in dawn police raids in the southeastern city of Siirt after discovering massive irregularities on the electoral roll
Türk-Ahmet Mardin Metropolitan Mayor. In dismissing Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) mayors, the Ministry of Interior or governorships have been referring to "the ongoing investigations against them on terror-related charges." 
Uca-Feleknas 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]. disseminating “terrorist propaganda,” and demanding the removal of their immunity from prosecution."
Uyanik-Hulya-Alokmen New co-mayors of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır elected on Sunday’s local polls
Uğur -Cavit Provincial co-chai. Was detained 9 March 2016 in an anti-terror operation in İzmir over accusations of “making terrorist propaganda.”
Yacan-Azim İpekyolu Mayor 
Yasar-Remziye Co-mayor of the province’s Yüksekova district
Yiğitalp-Sibel

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]. disseminating “terrorist propaganda,” and demanding the removal of their immunity from prosecution."

Yildirim-Ahmet

Lost the seat in parlament due to criminal conviction. Yıldırım was given 14 months in jail last year by the Muş 2nd Penal Court of First Instance for insulting President Erdoğan

Yıldırım-Gülser

Were arrested after being detained on November 4, 2016. MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.

Yildirim-Nadir

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]. disseminating “terrorist propaganda,” and demanding the removal of their immunity from prosecution."

Yılmaz-Keziban Kayapınar Mayor 
Yılmaz-Nilüfer-Elik Kızıltepe Mayor 
Yüksekdağ-Figen

HDP Co-Chair Yüksekdağ was relieved of her MP duties by the parliament. As a result, the number of HDP MPs has dropped from 59 to 58. MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.

 

 

Zana-Leyla  

A majority of lawmakers at the Turkish parliament on Thursday (11 January 2018) voted in favor of removing a fellow MP, Leyla Zana of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), from her elected post.

Zeydan-Abdullah

Was sentenced to eight years in prison over terror charges. MP from 26th term of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). Was still in prison on 11 December 2018.

Zırığ-Mehmet Cizre Mayor 

Turkey: the rise and fall of the Kurdish party
that threatened Erdoğan


‘6,000 People from HDP Arrested Since 2015’

Turkey's HDP reports increased violations in Human Rights Week

Turkish court issues second arrest warrant in a week
for jailed former HDP leader


HDP faces ban as Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals
launches probe into the party

The chief prosecutor’s office of Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals has launched a probe into the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and asked for documents from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office related to ongoing investigations into HDP lawmakers and officials, Turkish media reported on Tuesday.

Prosecutors sent 33 legal proceedings to the parliament on Feb. 23 in a bid to remove the immunity of at least nine HDP deputies.

If the prosecutor’s office decides after the investigation that the HDP is a “focal point for terrorism against the indivisible integrity of the state,” like the previous pro-Kurdish parties that were banned, then the Constitutional Court will issue a verdict on whether the close the party or not. Read the full article

24 Feb. 2021:
Proceedings Against Parliamentary Members
It is learned from the news coverage of February 24, 2021 that, 33 proceedings demanding lift of impunity of 25 parliamentary members are submitted to Grand National Assembly.

Parliamentary members subjected to proceedings are:

  • Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-chair and Diyarbakır MP Saliha Aydeniz (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Co-chair and Istanbul MP Pervin Buldan (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Group Deputy and Siirt MP Meral Danış Beştaş (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Group Deputy and Istanbul MP Saruhan Oruç (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Urfa MP Ayşe Sürücü (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Diyarbakır MP Garo Paylan (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Batman MP Ayşe Acar Başaran (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Mardin MP Pero Dündar (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Ağrı MP Berdan Öztürk (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Van MP Sezai Temelli (2 proceedings);
  • HDP Izmir MP Serpil Kemalbay Pekgözegü (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Mersin MP Fatma Kurtulan (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Istanbul MP Hüda Kaya (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Diyarbakır MP Hişyar Özsoy (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Batman MP Feleknas Uca (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Diyarbakır MP Dersim Dağ (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Istanbul MP Züleyha Gülüm (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Hakkari MP Sait Dede (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Siirt MP Sıdık Taş (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Istanbul MP Oya Ersoy (1 proceeding);
  • HDP Ağrı MP Dirayet Dilan Taşdemir (1 proceeding);
  • CHP Mersin MP Ali Mahir Başarır (1 proceeding);
  • CHP Tekirdağ MP Candan Yüceer (1 proceeding);
  • CHP Niğde MP Ömer Fethi Gürer (1 proceeding);
  • Democratic Party (DP) Ordu MP (1 proceeding).


19 Feb. 2021:

Turkey to strip immunities of nine pro-Kurdish deputies

Turkish Interior Ministry has filed requests to lift the parliamentary immunities of nine lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including co-chair Pervin Buldan, over their alleged role in a series of street protests in 2014, dubbed the Kobane Incidents, Halk TV news site reported on Friday.

For the deputies to face trial, parliament would need to vote on requests that the Justice Ministry in turn would need to accept and process the requests. On Dec. 30, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s office prepared an indictment on 108 members of the HDP, including jailed former co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and the nine deputies. Read the full article

Kurdish politician Demirtaş indicted with 108 others for Kobane protest


16 February 2021:

Detained HDP executives and members

Detained Co-Mayor, City Council Members and HDP Executives in Batman
3 of 8 people (Murat Kılıç, Tayfun Güney and Mehmet Emin Salman) who were detained in Batman on February 14, 2021, are released by the court on judicial control conditions on February 15, 2021. Gülistan Sönük, HDP co-mayor of Bekirhan town and city council members Şükran Çotak, İdris Yalçın, Suat Öztekin who were also detained, were released after statement procedures on February 14, 2021. It is learned that 1 person (Seyid Ali Doğan) is still under custody.

Detained City Council Member and HDP Executives in Siirt
On February 15, 2021, 7 people including Hasret Arslan and Haydar Çağlı city council members from HDP; Mehmet Kayısı, provincial council member from HDP; Tamer Kılınç, provincial executive of HDP and Abdulgaffur Kubilay, Kurtalan district executive of HDP are detained in house raids in Siirt.

Detained HDP Executives in Kars
3 of 6 people including HDP provincial co-chair Sevda Subaşı who were detained on February 12, 2021 in Kars, are arrested by the court on February 15, 2021. 3 people are released on judicial control conditions.

Detained City Council Member, HDP Executive and Association Executive in Ağrı
On February 15, 2021, 13 people including city council member Rahim Gönen, HDP Party Assembly member Talha Kaya, district executive Ahmet Yaşmış and Association of Prisoners’ Families (TUHAY-DER) representative Cemil Koç, are detained in house raids in Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı.

Detained HDP Executives in Batman
HDP Batman provincial co-chairs Fatma Ablay and Ömer Kutlu, and central district co-chair Gurbet Doğan are detained after the police raid to provincial and district offices of HDP in Batman on February 15, 2021.

Detained HDP Member in Diyarbakır
HDP Youth Assembly member Cesur Yılmaz is detained at a police control point in Bismil district of Diyarbakır on February 15, 2021.

Detained HDP Members in Manisa
On February 15, 2021, 8 members of HDP Youth Assembly are detained in house raids in Manisa. Detained people are: Zahir Aslan, Aleyna Tekin, Mahsun Silinsin, Hamza Aslan, Ahmet Aslan, Sultan Aslan, Niyazi Mehmet, Ali Polat.

Detained HDP Executive in Elazığ
On February 15, 2021, HDP district co-chair Veysi Sarıtağ is detained in a house raid in Karakoçan district of Elazığ.

Detained HDP Executive in Van
Ökkeş Kava, former provincial co-chair of HDP in Van is detained on February 15, 2021


Detained HDP Executives, Members and Other People
HDP Law and Human Rights Committee made a declaration on February 14, 2021 and stated that 143 members and executives of HDP are detained between February 12 and 14, 2021.

On February 15, 2021 the Ministry of Interior declared that 718 people including HDP’s provincial and district co-chairs are detained in operations covering 40 cities through “PKK/KCK” investigations.

Detained Co-Mayor, City Council Member and HDP Executives in Batman
8 people including Gülistan Sönük, HDP co-mayor of Bekirhan town and city council members Şükran Çotak, İdris Yalçın, Suat Öztekin are detained in Batman on February 14, 2021.

Gülistan Sönük, Şükran Çotak, İdris Yalçın and Suat Öztekin are released after statement procedures at the gendarmerie on the same day. It is learned that 4 people (HDP district executive Tayfun Güney, HDP provincial executive Murat Kılıç, HDP Youth Assembly members Mehmet Emin Salman and Seyid Ali Doğan) are still under custody.

Detained HDP Executive and Other People in Konya for Social Media Posts
7 people including Süleyman İnan, former district co-chair of HDP in Kulu, who were detained for social media posts, on February 11, 2021 in Konya, are released after statement procedures at the police on February 12, 2021. Detained people were: Süleyman İnan, İsmet Üçler, Osman Ekici, Erdal Taşkıran, Mustafa Yılmaz, Hasan Oyucu, Ekrem Söğüt.

Detained HDP Executives in Kars
On February 12, 2021, 6 people including HDP provincial co-chair Sevda Subaşı and HDP executives Zeki Şur and Mahmut Nadiroğlu are detained in house raids in Kars.

Detained HDP Members in Kocaeli
On February 12, 2021, 13 people including HDP members are detained in house raids in Kocaeli. Some of the detained people are: Saki Ermiş, Şirin Ermiş, Ömer Aslan, İbrahim Güler, Güney Meriç, Erkan Macak, Sezgin Güler, Rodi Babayiğit, Hakan Karakoç.

Detained HDP Member in Şırnak
On February 13, 2021, Mustafa Dal, a member of HDP, is detained in a house raid in Cizre district of Şırnak. The reason of detention is unknown.

Detained HDP Members and Executives in Aydın
On February 14, 2021, 9 members and executives of HDP are detained in house raids in Aydın. Detained people are: HDP Party Assembly member Ayfer Demirer, provincial co-chair Aysel Bahtiyar Ünsel, Didim district co-chair Mehtap Bozkurt, Söke co-chair Sadegül Akalın, provincail executive Neslihan Arviş, Saadet Açık, Azize Ergün, Nazlı Boza and HDP member Söylemez Akalın.

Detained HDP Executives in Yalova
On February 14, 2021, 8 executives of HDP (Mahsun Köroğlu, Ömer Polat, Bedrettin Seziş, Kamuran Özkartal, Mehmet Kıran, Azat Güner, Ömer Faruk Çetin, Mehmet Taş) are detained in house raids in Yalova.

Detained HDP Executive in Mersin
Songül Eriş, HDP’s provincial executive, is detained in a house raid in Mersin on February 14, 2021.

Co-Mayor on Trial
The trial of the case against Mehmet Demir, Batman city co-mayor who was suspended and replaced with a trustee, is held at Batman Heavy Penal Court No 2 on February 12, 2021. Mehmet Demir joined the trial from prison via sound and vision system. After defence hearings the court released Mehmet Demir and adjourned the trial to June 4, 2021.Mehmet Demir was detained on July 21, 2021 and was arrested on July 22, 2021.

Police Raid to a Political Party Office in Aydın
It is learned that provincial office of HDP in Aydın was raided and searched by the police through an investigation against HDP members and executives on February 14, 2021.

Investigation Against Parliamentary Members
It is learned from the news coverage of February 14, 2021 that, Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated an investigation against HDP Istanbul MP Hüda Kaya and HDP Kocaeli MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, for their declarations on 13 people including soldiers and police officers who were abducted by PKK at different times, lost their lives in the military operation in Gare area of Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government.
Source: https://en.tihv.org.tr/documentation/
13-15-february-2021-hrft-documentation-center-
daily-human-rights-report/


https://en.tihv.org.tr/documentation/
16-february-2021-hrft-documentation-center-
daily-human-rights-report/


24 January 2021:

Police Raid to HDP District Office in Istanbul and Detained HDP Executives
On January 24, 2021, the police raided HDP office in Esenyurt district of Istanbul. It is learned that the reason of the raid was a portrait of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, which was covered by a photograph taken during disinfection in the office provided by Esenyurt Municipality and which was then shared on social media by municipality. It is learned that the police seized documents, papers, books, banners and flags after the search and detained district co-chairs Dilan Kılıç and Ercan Sağlam. Detained district co-chairs are released after statement procedures on the same day.


16 January 2021:
Prosecutors seek to lift immunity of nine HDP deputies over 'Kobanê protests'
Prosecutors in the capital city of Ankara are preparing filings for the lift of the legislative immunity of nine lawmakers from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including the party's co-leader Pervin Buldan, over the "Kobanê protests" in 2014.

A court on January 7 accepted an indictment into the incidents that left more than 40 people dead in the Kurdish-majority eastern and southeastern provinces.

As many as 108 people, mostly HDP members are facing aggravated life sentences on "terrorism" charges for orchestrating the events.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office will request the lift of the immunities of the HDP's parliamentary group deputy chairs Meral Danış-Beştaş and Hakkı Saruhan Oluç, as well as MPs Garo Paylan, Sezai Temelli, Serpil Kemalbay, Hüda Kaya, Pero Dündar and Fatma Kurtulan. Read the full article

27 Decembr 2020:

With only 5 HDP mayors left in office, what future for the pro-Kurdish party?

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is slowly moving to consolidate his grip on power by removing the last of the opposition People’s Democratic Party’s (HDP) elected officials, the Guardian has reported.

Adalet Fidan is the mayor of Silopi and one of only 5 out of 65 HDP mayors elected in 2019 who are still in their post after the government has arrested many and accused them of involvement with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Read the full article


27 December 2020:

Turkey intensifies crackdown on pro-Kurdish HDP in 2020

Turkish government detained 20 thousand pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP) members and arrested 10 thousand of them over a span of 4 years, Turkey’s opposition HDP said in a report it released.

The report underlined that the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) administration steered court orders in defiance of the opposition. According to the report, more than one thousand HDP members and administrators were detained this year, 172 of them were arrested.

On Monday a Turkish court sentenced prominent Kurdish politician Leyla Güven to 22 years and 3 months in prison. The Turkish parliament had ealier lifted Güven’s parliamentary immunity.

Kurdish mayors’ removal which started on August, 19 in 2019 has persisted in 2020. 37 HDP co-mayors  were arrested, and the government appointed trustees to 48 HDP municipalities. Currently, 17 HDP co-mayors are still detained, the report said.


22 December 2020:

Turkish police knock opposition MP off wheelchair during protest

Istanbul police on Tuesday knocked off his wheelchair an opposition lawmaker with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) during a protest, T24 news site reported.

HDP deputy Musa Piroğlu was pushed off his wheelchair during police intervention on a protest over the arrest of prominent Kurdish politician Leyla Güven, it said. Footage of the incident was shared on social media.

A number of people were detained during Tuesday’s protest, including the two HDP Istanbul co-chairs, after the demonstrators refused to follow the orders of police, who told them they were banned from reading a press statement.

The protest arrives a day after a Turkish court sentenced Güven, a former HDP lawmaker, who was stripped of her parliamentary immunity in June, to over 22 years in jail on terror charges.


3 December 2020:

Proceedings Against Parliamentary Members

It is learned from the news coverage of December 3, 2020 that, 62 proceedings demanding lift of impunity of 39 parliamentary members are submitted to Grand National Assembly.

Parliamentary members subjected to proceedings are:

  • DBP Co-chair and Diyarbakır MP Saliha Aydeniz (5 proceedings)

  • HDP Van MP Tayip Temel (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Izmir MP Murat Çepni (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Urfa MP Nusrettin Maçin (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Istanbul MP Dilşat Canbaz Kaya (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Izmir MP Serpil Kemalbay (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Siirt MP Meral Danış Beştaş (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Van MP Muazzez Orhan Işık (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Diyarbakır MP Dersim Dağ (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Siirt MP Sıdık Taş (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Batman MP Mehmet Rustu Tiryaki (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Muş MP Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Van MP Murat Sarısaç (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Istanbul MP Ali Kenanoğlu (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Istanbul MP Oya Ersoy (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Hakkari MP Sait Dede (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Diyarbakır MP İmam Taşçıer (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Adana MP Tülay Hatimoğulları Oruç (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Diyarbakır MP Semra Güzel (3 proceedings)

  • HDP Şırnak MP (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Diyarbakır MP Remziye Tosun (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Urfa MP Ayşe Sürücü (3 proceedings)

  • HDP Van MP Sezai Temelli (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Şırnak MP Nuran İmir (4 proceedings)

  • HDP Diyarbakır MP Hişyar Özsoy (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Batman MP Feleknas Uca (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Ağrı MP Abdullah Koç (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Muş MP Şevin Coşkun (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Şırnak MP Hasan Özgüneş (2 proceedings)

  • HDP Ağrı MP Dilan Dirayet Taşdemir (3 proceedings)

  • HDP Batman MP Ayşe Acar Başaran (1 proceeding)

  • HDP Mardin MP Ebru Günay (2 proceedings)

  • CHP Antalya MP Cavit Arı (1 proceeding)

  • CHP Istanbul MP Aykut Erdoğdu (1 proceeding)

  • TIP Hatay MP Barış Atay (1 proceeding)

  • IYI Party Tekirdağ MP Enez Kaplan (1 proceeding)

  • IYI Party Mersin MP Zeki Hakan Sıdalı (1 proceeding)

  • MHP Sivas MP Ahmet Özyürek (1 proceeding)

  • Independent Istanbul MP Ahmet Şık (1 proceeding)


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.


9 November 2020:

Ousted Kurdish mayor and 4 others detained

Turkish police in dawn raids on Monday detained the former co-mayor of Cizre in southeastern Şırnak province from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the HDP district co-chair and three others, the Mesopotamia News Agency reported.

Counterterrorism police reportedly broke down the doors of former co-mayor Berivan Kutlu and Cizre district co-chair Güler Tunç. The government ousted the co-mayor, appointing a trustee in her stead in October 2019. The detainees are being held at the Cizre Police Department, according to Mesopotamia.

Ankara has removed from office 59 of 65 mayors from the HDP, replacing them with government-appointed trustees, over accusations of ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a secessionist Kurdish armed group outlawed by Turkey. The ousted mayors were elected in the local elections of March 2019.


2 October 2020:

Kurdish politicians arrested, mayor replaced by Ankara

2 October 2020:
Turkey arrests four more Kurdish politicians

Following the arrest of 19 Kurdish and pro-Kurdish politicians on Thursday, four more Kurdish politicians were arrested on Friday in southeastern Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır province, Mezopotamya agency reported.

Two of the newly-arrested politicians, Edip Binbir and Çiğdem Ekti, were from the Diyarbakır chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), while Mekiye Güzel worked at MEBYA-DER, an association for the families of persons who lost family members in the Kurdish conflict, and Emin Ay at the Democratic Islam Congress (DİK).

Seven others from HDP and several worker’s unions were released on probation, while HDP’s Sur district council member Ömer Filitoğlu’s detention was prolonged until Monday.


Mayor of Kars arrested, replaced with gov’t appointee

Mayor of the eastern Kars province Ayhan Bilgen, who resigned from parliament to run for mayor and won his seat last year from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) following a highly-contested series of recounts, was arrested on Friday, after which the Turkish Interior Ministry removed him from office and appointed the province’s governor as his replacement, daily Evrensel reported.

Bilgen was the last provincial mayor who still held his seat after the Interior Ministry started to dismiss mayors upon terrorism charges without convictions shortly after the 2019 elections. At least 59 of the 65 municipalities HDP won have been replaced with government appointed proxies to date.

Bilgen’s co-mayor Şevin Alaca, who was officially a member of the city council, was also arrested after Bilgen announced his resignation.

Bilgen had wanted to force a re-election from among city council members and avoid a government appointee, a pool which would have included Alaca, and several other council members who were either arrested or dismissed.

Kars governor prays on street after appointment as mayor

Kars Governor Türker Öksüz held Friday prayers in front of the municipality building after he was appointed to replace the province’s dismissed and arrested mayor Ayhan Bilgen.

“The Kars Municipality has been usurped by the palace,” Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Izmir Deputy Murat Çepni said in a tweet. “And this is a prayer of conquest.”

Kars Belediyesi saray tarafından gaspedildi.
Bu da “fetih” namazı!

Kars kayyum darbesi ile yeniden mafyaya teslim edilecek! #KAYBEDECEKSİNİZ https://t.co/miZDQoRQtD

— Murat Çepni (@MuratCepniHDP) October 2, 2020

HDP Diyarbakır Deputy Dersim Dağ called the prayer “an image of occupation, religious abuse, and usurpation of the people’s will.”

HDP Spokeswoman Ebru Günay said: “We know (the arrest decisions) are not made in courthouses. Sycophant media had been writing the indictment and putting on arrest negotiations for days. These arrests have targeted the colorful and pluralistic structure that is the HDP.”

Several HDP deputies started a sit-in in front of the municipality, while police did not allow supporters of the party to join in.


Turkish opposition condemns dismissal of HDP mayor

Following the mass arrest of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) politicians and dismissal of the mayor of Kars, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Group Chairman Özgür Özel tweeted out a condemnation of the arrests.

“They reopened the Kobani case six years later, and spewed out fear for the opposition and hate towards Kurds,” Özel said. “They arrested Ayhan Bilgen in spite of the Constitutional Court ruling, and appointed a replacement to the will of Kars where they failed to win at the ballot.”

CHP Deputy Chairman Oğuz Kaan Salıcı said, “When Turkey’s political history is told, these days will be referred to as ‘the squirming of the one-man regime in its period of collapse’! The arrest of HDP members is entirely political. Whatever you do, you will be gone by the first ballot!”

The Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), founded by former minister Ali Babacan, issued a statement calling the replacement mayor appointed to Kars “a coup against democracy.”

Replacing elected mayors with government appointees has “turned into a government routine,” DEVA said in the statement, calling the current situation in Turkey “a bottleneck of democracy that our country has been in for a long time.”

The case against dismissed mayor Bilgen was the same one that the Constitutional Court ruled to be a violation of his rights, it continued. “All appointments of government proxies violate the Constitution and international treaties,” it said.

The DEVA statement also stressed that the Kars city council should have been able to elect another mayor from among itself.

“We would like to remind everyone of a very fundamental piece of information on democracy: Respecting elections and election results is among the most fundamental, indispensable element of democracies.”

Related Articles


1 October 2020:

Pro-Kurdish co-mayor detained after colleague announces resignation

The chief public prosecutor’s office of the eastern city of Kars has ordered the detention of 19 politicians from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on terror charges, including the city’s co-mayor and city council members, the Gazete Duvar news website reported on Thursday.

The police had detained Co-mayor Şevin Alaca as of Thursday morning, HDP deputy Hüda Kaya tweeted.

The detention warrants were issued following a written statement by Ayhan Bilgen, the other Kars co-mayor from the HDP who is currently in police custody, in which he said he would resign from office after his detention, stating that a female mayor would better govern the city.

Critics view the detention of Alaca and city council members as a bid to suppress an attempt by the HDP to choose Alaca as the new mayor after Bilgen announced he would resign, a move that would prompt an election by the city council. Read the full article

25 September 2020:

Turkey seeks arrest of 82 people, including Kurdish opposition figures

Turkey issued detention warrants for 82 people, including major Kurdish political figures, for their suspected involvement in large-scale violent protests in 2014, state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Friday.

Eighteen of the 82 people, including former parliamentary deputies, mayors and ex-party leaders of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), have been detained so far in an operation by counterterrorism units simultaneously covering seven provinces, the news agency said.

Among those apprehended were former deputy and HDP mayor of the city of Kars Ayhan Bilgen, former HDP deputies Ayla Akat Ata, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Altan Tan, Nazmi Gür, Emine Beyza Üstün and Emine Ayna, and Alp Altınörs, a member of the party’s Central Executive Board, it said. Read the full article

24 September 2020:

HDP’s Selahattin Demirtaş faces new indictment 
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has issued a new indictment against Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Demirtaş’s previous remarks about Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Yüksel Kocaman, who recently made headlines for visiting President Erdoğan following his wedding, were held as the grounds for the accusation in the new indictment, which seeks up to 8 years in prison for Demirtaş on the charges of “threatening,” “targeting public officials involved in the fight against terrorism.” 

17 September 2020:
Turkey issues red notice for ex-opposition lawmaker

Turkish prosecutors on Thursday requested a red notice for a former member of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), according to a judicial source.

Prosecutors in the southeastern Diyarbakir province issued the request for Osman Baydemir, sought for being a member of an armed terrorist group, said the source on the condition of anonymity.

Baydemir is currently living abroad, it added. Turkey’s government accuses the HDP of being linked to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU.


11 September 2020:
HDP deputy Remziye Tosun handed 10-year prison sentence on terrorism charges
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Remziye Tosun has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for "membership of an armed terrorist organization." The court also ruled for the continuation of her international travel ban, considering the amount of the penalty, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reported.

Tosun was on trial in the case over the conflict in Sur district of the Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır province for "disrupting the unity and integrity of the state" and "membership of a terrorist organization."

Forty-seven people, 26 of whom are currently remanded in custody, were stranded in Diyarbakır amid the conflict due to curfews. While Tosun didn't attend the hearing, her attorney Muharrem Şahin was preseent in the courtroom.

When the decision becomes final, two copies shall be sent to the Parliament's secretariat and the Ministry of Justice General Directorate of Penalties. Read the full article

19 August 2020:

Turkey has removed 146 mayors from Kurdish parties in 4 years, HDP report says

19 August 2020:
The Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Tuesday published an 84-page report on the removal of HDP mayors in the last four years, after the passage of a law that authorized the Turkish Interior Ministry to remove elected local officials.

The report indicated that in this period 146 mayors from the HDP and other regional Kurdish parties were removed by the ministry.

Fifty-one of them were elected in the local polls of March 2019 and the remainder in 2015.

Kurdish parties won 102 mayoral offices in 2015 and 63 in last year’s elections.

Ahmet Türk, a 78-year-old Kurdish politician, was removed from office in southeastern Mardin province in 2016, and although he was reelected in 2019, he was again suspended by the ministry five months later.

The legislation authorizing the ministry to remove elected officials was among numerous government decrees issued under a two-year-long state of emergency declared after a 2016 coup attempt.

The HDP report also focuses on assimilation politics — attempts to erase the Kurdish identity of the predominantly Kurdish southeastern provinces.

The party’s mayors often introduced multilingual signboards and led initiatives to promote Kurdish language and culture in the region.

However, trustees appointed by the ministry after the suspension of the mayors removed the signs and halted those activities, as well as hanging the Turkish flag on all municipal buildings.

The trustees also changed street and building names that reflected Kurdish culture.

According to the report the trustees were also engaged in large-scale corruption and nepotism.


18 August 2020:

Over 80 pct of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP municipalities seized by gov't - report

The Turkish government is pursuing a “coup policy’’ in the country’s Kurdish majority east and southeast, where 81 percent of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) municipalities have been seized by the ruling party since 2016, a HDP report published on Tuesday said.

A total of 51 of Turkey’s 63 HDP-won municipalities have been seized by the Turkish government over the last year, while a total 146 state-appointed officials have been assigned to HDP municipalities over the last four years, Birgün cited the report as saying.

The government accuses the HDP of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), an armed group that has been at war for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey for almost 40 years. Since the failed coup attempt of 2016, Ankara has intensified a crackdown on the group, detaining at least 20 HDP mayors and taking over municipalities run by the pro-Kurdish party.

“(Turkish President Recep) Tayyip Erdoğan is a putschist,’’ HDP co-chair Garo Paylan, who shared the report, said. “The will of the people is currently under arrest. Our co mayors, members of city council and elected officials are unable to do their jobs. We demand they are returned to their posts.’’

16 July 2020:

Pro-Kurdish HDP co-chairs detained in western, southwestern Turkey

Turkish police detained on Saturday two co-chairs of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the western province of Aydın and southeastern province of Muş.

The HDP co-chair of Ortaklar in Aydın, Tekin Erikli, and HDP’s Muş co-chair, Abdulbari Yiğit, were detained in morning raids to their homes, Artı Gerçek news site reported. Erikli’s detention is due to social media posts, while the reason for Yiğit’s detention remains unknown, it said.

The Turkish government has long accused the HDP of sympathising and acting in the interest of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK),  an armed group that has been at war in Turkey for Kurdish self-rule for over 30 years.

7 July 2020:

Turkey arrests Batman mayor, senior local officials

Turkish authorities detained the mayor of Turkey’s eastern province of Batman, alongside seven members of the municipal council, on Monday after they sought to hold a meeting at the municipality despite police restraint, Diken news website said.

Citing measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, police blocked the entrance to the municipality as the group was set to hold a meeting, which resulted in a brawl with local officials from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), it said. The police did not present any notice that prevents public meetings, Diken quoted one of the municipal council members as saying.

4 June 2020:

Turkey incarcerates three opposition MPs stripped of parliamentary immunity

Three opposition politicians stripped of their parliamentary seats have been detained and sent to jail.

A prosecutor in Turkey’s majority-Kurdish southeastern Diyarbakır province had issued arrest warrants for two Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputies on Thursday night, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Pro-Kurdish HDP’s former Hakkari deputy Leyla Güven and former Diyarbakır deputy Musa Farisoğulları were stripped of their seats in a parliamentary session earlier in the day based on finalised court orders over terrorism charges.

Farisoğulları was detained by the police on his way from Diyarbakır to the capital Ankara shortly after the warrant was issued. About an hour later, Güven was taken into custody from her home.

Saray Darbesiyle vekilliği düşürülen DTK Eşbaşkanı ve Hakkari Milletvekilimiz Leyla Güven de gözaltına alındı. İşte darbe budur. Seçmen iradesinin temsilcisi bir siyasetçinin evine onlarca polisle baskın yapmaktır. İntikamcılıktır Berxwedan Jiyan e diyenleri yıldıramayacaksınız! pic.twitter.com/NYs1rqthJJ

— HDP (@HDPgenelmerkezi) June 4, 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.

Enis Berberoğlu İstanbul’da şu an gözaltında. Vatan emniyete götürülüyor. Neden? Bunca zulm neden? Yarın savcıya kendisi gidecek bir insana bunca zalimlik neden? https://t.co/xMeDhGelRx

— Tuncay ÖZKAN (@ATuncayOzkan) June 4, 2020

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.

Berberoğlu, who was a deputy in the previous term as well, was released some months after his re-election in 2018. Turkey’s Court of Cassation ruled to suspend his sentence until the end of his term in parliament, which under normal circumstances would have come in 2023.

Leyla Güven was convicted to six years and three months in prison for membership of a terrorist organisation over her attendance to a press conference protesting Turkey’s 2018 Operation Olive Branch into Kurdish-held northern Syrian province of Afrin, and memorial services for members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The indictment against Güven also mentioned her 200-day hunger strike protesting prison conditions for political prisoners and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who had been held in isolation without contact with his family or lawyers for eight years at the time.

Musa Farisoğulları was convicted to nine years in prison for the same charges, over his alleged attendance to funerals of two PKK members in 2018, as well as a condolence visit to another PKK member’s family. One of the funerals was for Mehmet Yakışır, who directed PKK activity in northern Turkey and was responsible for the death of a 15 year-old boy according to Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu.

Meanwhile, Cemile Eminoğlu, the Mayor of Bismil, a town within the southeastern Diyarbakir province also detained on Thursday, herself notified it over a tweet post. Eminoğlu was replaced by the government trustee in October, 2019.

Gözaltına alınıyorum. #BerxwedanJiyane

— Cemile Eminoğlu (@cemileeminoglu) June 4, 2020


23 May 2020:

Dismissed Kurdish mayor Mızraklı to receive democracy award

The Istanbul branch of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has announced the winner of its annual Peace and Democracy Award as Selçuk Mızraklı, the dismissed mayor of Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakır province.

A member of the majority-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Mızraklı won 62 percent of the vote and was elected mayor in Turkey’s biggest Kurdish-majority province in March 2019. He was removed from office on August 19, and arrested on terrorism charges on October 22.

Charges against Mızraklı, who is also a surgeon, stemmed from witness testimony that - in the hospital he worked at - he had treated members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who had been wounded in clashes with Turkish armed forces. Read the full article


17 May 2020:

Dismissed Kurdish mayor arrested over terror charges in eastern Turkey

A former pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) district mayor in Turkey’s eastern province of Muş was arrested on Sunday on charges of conducting terrorist propaganda, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency reported. Casim Budak was removed from office as the mayor of the Altınova district on Friday, along with three other HDP mayors. The officials have been replaced with government-appointed trustees.

A Muş court ruled for the arrest of Budak following a statement the former mayor gave to the prosecutor's office.

On Friday, the HDP mayor the eastern province of Iğdır, Yaşar Akkuş, and HDP deputy, Eylem Çelik, were detained on terror charges, pro-nationalist news website Ulusal reported. “May my smile trouble you,” Akkuş said on Twitter after he was taken into custody. 

25 April 2020:

Anger over the removal of pro-Kurdish mayors in Turkey

The mix of fury and disappointment among residents was palpable inside a cafe in the southeastern Turkish city of Mardin after the government replaced the popular mayor with a trustee.

One year on from local elections, 40 out of 65 municipalities won by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) are now under the control of government-appointed trustees. In Mardin, the HDP's Ahmet Turk, won 56.2 percent of the vote in March 2019.

But in August he was one of the first, along with those in nearby Diyarbakir and Van, to be removed and replaced by the government.

Six months after the move, residents in Mardin, where the governor now runs the city of over 800,000 people, were especially critical of a lack of service and development. "No one bothers, no one wants to do anything, and no one raises their voice. We're speaking to you now, who knows what will happen to us tomorrow?" cafe manager Firat Kayatar told AFP during a visit late February.

"They may as well not hold elections in the southeast because they had two elections and after both, they appointed trustees," Kayatar, who lives in the old city, said. "No one listens anyway," one of the cafe's customers, Abdulaziz, 57, chipped in. "We can't complain to anyone. (The governor) brings bananas but we need bread."

Another man nearby who did not give his name said young people went to university but were unable to find a job. "This is the problem Mardin faces too," he says.

The party described the mayors' removals as an "attack" on Kurds but the government has accused the HDP of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Kurds make up around 20 percent of Turkey's overall population.

The HDP accused Ankara last month of making it "even harder for the Kurds to fight the coronavirus" through the "repression of Kurdish democratic institutions, their municipalities in particular."

Such actions are not new. Ankara removed 95 HDP mayors after the party won 102 municipalities in 2014.

"When it comes to the HDP, just slapping trumped-up terror charges is the easiest way to go and it's just a political attempt to destroy their legitimacy," said Turkey director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Emma Sinclair-Webb.

- 'PKK representatives' -

The chairman in Mardin for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party defended the government's actions, accusing the PKK of using the HDP mayors to obtain control.

"In fact these mayors were Qandil representatives," Faruk Kilic said, referring to where the PKK leadership and rear bases are located in a mountainous region in Iraq. "None of the mayors made statements of their own independent will," Kilic added, a claim which the HDP strongly denies.

The Turkish government has repeatedly accused the HDP mayors of using the municipalities' money to support the PKK, or hiring relatives of PKK militants.

The interior ministry claimed some mayors attended political rallies, demonstrations and even funerals of PKK militants. The HDP says 21 of its mayors are behind bars. The PKK has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984, and the group is blacklisted as a terror organisation by Ankara and its Western allies.

The government's aim was to "collapse any distinction between the HDP, a legal party playing by the rules of the game in parliament and democratically-elected representatives from this party, and an armed organisation," HRW's Sinclair-Webb said.

- Economic motives -

Veteran Kurdish politician Turk was acquitted in February in one case cited against him when he was removed as mayor of Mardin the first time in 2016. The AKP's Kilic said if mayors were later acquitted on the charges against them, they would return to their posts, but added "there's evidence against many" charged.

Eren Keskin, of the Ankara-based Human Rights Association (IHD), believed there was an "economic" motive to the dismissals. "The first municipalities they appointed a trustee for -- Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van -- are provinces that are really open to economic development," Keskin said.

Her claim was supported by HDP deputy chairman Saruhan Oluc, who said the government "keeps itself strong through the income and profit from local administrations".

Oluc accused the government of handing out money and favours to their allies as well as companies and foundations close to them through the municipalities' coffers.


9 April 2020:

Turkish prosecutors level new terrorism-related charges against jailed Diyarbakır mayor

Ankara prosecutors have drafted an indictment for Selçuk Mızraklı, the former mayor of the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakır, for allegedly disseminating terrorist propaganda, the Bianet news website reported on Thursday.

Mızraklı had already been sentenced to nine years, four months in prison in March for alleged membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), based on an informant’s testimony as well as his attendance at events and demonstrations.

Similarly, the new indictment referred to six events he attended as evidence for charging him with disseminating terrorist propaganda.

His participation in meetings held by his party, the Kurdish-oriented Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), an HDP-organized conference on the crises in the Middle East and his support for a hunger strike by HDP deputy Leyla Güven as well as his tweets about Ramin Hossein Penahi, a Kurdish activist executed in Iran, were cited in the indictment. Read the full article

15 May 2020:

HDP Slams Appointment of Trustees: 30 Million People's Will Usurped in Five Years
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Mithat Sancar has held a statement for the press about the recent appointment of trustees to the HDP municipalities in Siirt, Iğdır, Baykan, Kurtalan and Altınova. Addressing the reporters at the HDP Central Office in Ankara today (May 15), Sancar has said, "It is a coup, it means disregarding democracy. It means destroying the faith that people have in democracy. It is being implemented successively and by being extended over time. The appointment of trustees is also called enmity towards the people."

"This government, using the authorities in its power, is staging a coup by eliminating people's will. With its policy of trustees, the government is bearing enmity towards Kurdish people. The appointment of trustees is the severest and most apparent example of its enmity towards Kurds. The pro-coup mindset of the government manifests itself in other fields as well.

"The government also tried to discipline CHP municipalities with a blackmail through trustees. While the humanity is struggling against the coronavirus outbreak and has chosen to struggle against it with solidarity, the government has sought to eliminate solidarity and organization of the people. Read the full article


8 April 2020:
A year after local polls, Turkey’s Kurds left with only third of gains


28 March 2020:

HDP mayor faces terrorism charges over ‘planting green beans’

A court in Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province has pushed forward with terrorism charges against a dismissed mayor from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) over her municipality’s support for women’s cooperatives, which were planting green beans, news site Duvar reported on Saturday.

The court cited former Mazıdağı district mayor Nalan Özaydın’s support for the Sarya Women’s Cooperative, founded by a group of women in Mardin, as evidence of her involvement with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Sarya Women’s Cooperative was founded last year after the March 31 local elections, and had started its work by planting green beans in a three-hectare plot, after which the women sold the harvest and launched more agricultural projects in several villages.

The indictment against the former mayor cited assemblies, communes and cooperatives as part of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), which Turkey considers to be affiliated with the PKK.

Özaydın, who was dismissed on Nov. 15 and arrested on Nov. 26 last year, was charged with membership of a terrorist organisation with an indictment based on secret witness testimony that appeared word for word in several other cases, Duvar said.

Other evidence in the indictment included secret witness testimony that Özaydın met with an alleged terrorist, who told another person that the mayor would “no longer be asked for money.”


23 March 2020:

Turkey detains 5 more Kurdish mayors amid widening crackdown against HDP

Turkish authorities detained the mayors of five municipalities in Kurdish-majority areas on Monday as part of a widening government crackdown on the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the party’s co-leader said, according to Reuters.

Mithat Sancar told reporters security forces had besieged municipal buildings in the southeastern province of Batman as well as those in the Egil, Silvan, Lice and Ergani districts of Diyarbakir province on Monday morning.

He said five co-mayors in four municipalities were detained. He did not give details about the mayor of Lice but said another co-mayor who had previously been dismissed was also being held.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government accuse the HDP of links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, leading to prosecutions of thousands of its members and some leaders. The HDP denies such links.

The HDP appoints one male and one female as mayor to promote gender equality, calling them co-mayors, although only one is recognized by the central government.

Sancar said the measures on Monday morning were similar to those taken when Ankara appointed trustees in other municipalities, adding that the party had not received official notification from the central government.

“We reject this vile attempt that displays enmity against Kurds even in these difficult days when the whole world is battling an epidemic,” he said.

The Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Ankara has appointed trustees to 31 municipalities won by the HDP in the March 2019 local elections, an HDP source said, adding that 21 co-mayors had been formally arrested so far, in addition to the six detained on Monday.

The former co-leaders of the HDP have both been jailed since 2016 on terrorism charges, with several other prominent members accused of supporting terrorism over what the government says are links to the PKK.


9 March 2020:

Turkish court sentences pro-Kurdish ex-mayor to nine years in jail

A Turkish court sentenced on Monday the former mayor of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, Selçuk Mızraklı, to nine years and four months in jail over membership in a terrorist organisation, Diken news site reported. 

Mızraklı was removed from office on Aug. 19 alongside two other pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) mayors over links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that has been at war for Kurdish self rule in Turkey for over three decades.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The HDP mayor was arrested on Oct. 22 with prosecutors demanding a prison sentence of up to 15 years. Turkish authorities have replaced dozens of HDP mayors over links to the PKK since the March 31 local elections last year. 



26 February, 2020

Turkish police detain 14 in pro-Kurdish HDP congress investigation

Turkish police detained on Tuesday 14 people as part of an investigation into the annual congress of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) over the weekend, Hürriyet newspaper reported.

Turkish authorities issued warrants for the detention of 15 people after the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the HDP ordinary congress, which featured a slideshow including photographs of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader, Abdullah Öcalan, it said. 

The PKK is an armed group that has been at war in Turkey for Kurdish autonomy for over three decades. Ankara accuses the HDP of harbouring sympathy and acting in the interest of the PKK.

Police are looking for one more person and the detainees remain in custody at the Ankara Police Department, Hürriyet said. The HDP held is fourth ordinary congress on February 23, electing lawmaker Mithat Sancar and re-electing Pervin Buldan as the party’s co-chairs.


20 February 2020:

Prosecutors file to lift immunity from pro-Kurdish party deputies

A prosecutor’s office in Turkey’s capital city of Ankara has filed requests to lift the parliamentary immunity of five pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputies, T24 news site said on Thursday. Prosecutors presented a summary of proceedings against HDP co-chairs Pervin Buldan and Sezai Temelli alongside 3 other lawmakers to the Turkish Parliamentary Speaker's Office, T24 said.

It was not immediately clear what the accusations against the lawmakers were.
Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has piled constant pressure on the HDP since it became the first pro-Kurdish party to win enough votes to break the country’s 10 per cent electoral threshold in the June 2015 elections.

Shortly after the elections, a peace process broke down between the AKP and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an outlawed armed group that has fought for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey since the 1980s.

Dozens of high-profile HDP politicians and activists have faced legal action since 2015 due to their alleged links to the PKK, including two of the party’s former co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.
The CHP politicians have been accused of “insulting the president,” a crime with a maximum four-year prison sentence according to the Turkish constitution, which does not clearly define what constitutes an insult.  The Turkish parliament decided to make it possible to lift politicians’ parliamentary immunity in a controversial vote in May 2016.


January 2020:

Trustee-appointed municipalities

In January, three municipal council members were replaced with trustees by the Ministry of Interior. HDP's nine municipal council members were removed from office by the Ministry of Interior in Şırnak-Silopi, Diyarbakır-Sur and Bitlis-Tatvan.


17 February 2020:
HDP MP Under 'Terror' Investigation After Tweeting Footage of 'Car Following Him'
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Van MP Murat Sarısaç has alleged that a car without a license plate has been following him for several days in the Kurdish-majority easter province. In a tweet on Friday (February 14), he said, "The car without a license plate that has been following me for several days was waiting in the yard of the housing estate where I reside."

The people stopped Sarısaç's car and detained Yunus Durdu, an HDP party assembly member on the same day. The state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported the detention as "PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] terrorist found in HDP deputy's home." However, Sarısaç says in the footage he shared on Twitter that the people in the car did not show identity cards. The footage shows the car has a license plate though.

After the detention of Durdu, a separate investigation has been launched against Sarısaç for "aiding and abetting a terrorist organization," "violating Article 6 of the Anti-Terror Law," and "openly insulting a public official because of his/her duty." Sarısaç told Euronews Turkish that he is under investigation for "aiding his party."


15 February 2020:

Kurdish politician acquitted of terrorism charges that led to his removal from office

Prominent Kurdish politician Ahmet Türk, who was ousted from his position as co-mayor of the Mardin Municipality in southeastern Turkey in August 2019, has been acquitted of terrorism charges that were used as a pretext for his removal from office, according to Turkish media reports. Türk is among the dozens of mayors who were elected in the March 31, 2019 local elections from the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) but were later removed from their posts on terrorism charges.

In the latest hearing of his trial at the Mardin 3rd High Criminal Court on Friday, Türk was acquitted of charges of spreading the propaganda of a terrorist organization, namely the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Türk was facing the terrorism charges for attending the funeral ceremony of a Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militant in the Mazıdağı district of Mardin in 2015. Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU.

The court ruled for Türk’s acquittal on the grounds that the elements of a crime did not exist. Mazıdağı District Co-mayor Necla Yıldırım, who was also facing the same charges in the same trial, has also been acquitted. Kurdish politicians, particularly members of the HDP, are often accused by Turkish government officials of having ties to the PKK.


7 January 2020:

Jailed former leader of pro-Kurdish HDP fined for insulting Erdoğan

A Turkish court has ruled the jailed former co chair of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Figen Yüksekdağ must pay 1740 TL liras ($ 291) for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The HDP former co-chair, who has been jailed since 2016 on terror related charges , attended Tuesday’s trial via closed-circuit camera system (SEGBİS), Artı Gerçek news site reported.

His lawyer represented Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it said.  "The case in which I am accused of insulting the president is not a trial, but a political method to extend the life of the ruling party,’’ Yüksekdağ said. 

Between 2010 and 2017, 12,893 cases of insulting the president were filed. Of these, 12,305 were filed under the presidency Erdoğan, who assumed office in 2014. Yüksekdağ was arrested in November 2016 along with HDP co-chair, Selahattin Demirtaş.


2 January 2020:

Turkish authorities seize 32 HDP municipalities in 2019

The Turkish government seized control of 32 municipalities and arrested some 4,500 people from the country’s main pro-Kurdish party last year, news site Diken cited a report by the party as saying.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) returned 97 mayors in the polls and regained many of the municipalities the central government took over after 2014 local elections.

But the HDP has faced the same treatment since August, when the authorities arrested three HDP mayors of large cities in the predominantly Kurdish eastern provinces on terrorism charges, imposing government appointees to take over their duties. The tally of arrested mayors has risen to 24 since then, and the authorities have taken control of 32 municipalities.

The government says the HDP has close links to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which began an armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in 1984. Many of the 4,567 HDP members the party says were arrested last year, and the 797 of these who were formally charged, are accused of supporting the PKK directly or by making propaganda for the group. Turkey, the United States and European Union list the PKK as a terrorist organisation.


20 December 2019:

Two more Kurdish mayors arrested in southeastern Turkey

In an ongoing crackdown on elected mayors from the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), two district co-mayors in the southeastern Turkish province of Muş have been arrested on terrorism charges.

Bulanık district mayor Adnan Topçu and Varto district mayor Ülkü Karaaslan, who were detained in police operations on Wednesday, were arrested on Thursday after appearing in court. They are accused of membership in a terrorist organization and spreading the propaganda of a terrorist organization.

Turkey’s Kurdish movement not going away,
despite crackdown

Ankara accuses the HDP of links to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It has now replaced around 30 mayors from the HDP on alleged links to terrorism since municipal elections in March.

In August Turkey first removed the mayors of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van, three metropolitan cities won by the HDP. All the mayors, who were democratically elected in local elections on March 31, have been removed from office by Turkey’s Interior Ministry. The controversial practice of removing and arresting mayors was also widely implemented during Turkey’s two-year-long state of emergency following an attempted coup in 2016.


11 December 2019:

HDP says 6,000 party officials arrested since 2015

A total of 15,530 members of the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have been detained and 6,000 of them arrested since 2015, according to a report drafted by the HDP, the Bianet news website reported. The HDP publicized the report on rights violations in 2019 on the occasion of Human Rights Day, marked every Dec.10. The report showed that the number of HDP members or officials detained to date 2019 is 674, of whom 200 have been arrested.

The HDP has been one of the main targets of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) particularly after a coup attempt in July 2016, following which the government launched a massive crackdown on its opponents under the pretext of an anti-coup fight.

The report also showed that 20 co-mayors elected from the HDP in the March 31 local elections have been arrested, while 28 co-mayors have been removed from office on terrorism allegations. The controversial practice of removing and arresting mayors was also widely implemented during Turkey’s two-year-long state of emergency following the attempted coup in 2016.

Ankara accuses the HDP of links to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a bloody war in Turkey’s Southeast since 1984.


6 December 2019:
HDP’s District Co-Mayors in Van Detained

District Co-Mayors of Muradiye, Özalp and Başkale from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) were taken into custody in the early morning hours today (December 6) on the ground that there are ongoing investigations against them conducted by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Muradiye Co-Mayors Yılmaz Şalan and Leyla Balkan, Özalp Co-Mayors Yakup Almaç and Dilan Örenci and Başkale Co-Mayors Erkan Acar and Şengül Polat have been brought to the Provincial Directorate of Security in Van after their houses were searched by the security forces. Blockading the municipality buildings, police officers do not allow people to enter or leave the municipalities.

In Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır, HDP's Bağlar Municipal Council member Naşide Buluttekin Can has also been taken into custody. After searching her house, the police took Buluttekin Can to the Anti-Terror Branch of the Diyarbakır Directorate of Security. She was removed from office with HDP's five other municipal council members on October 22 and a trustee was appointed. (HA/SD)


6 December 2019:

Turkey detains 5 more Kurdish co-mayors from HDP
As part of an expanding crackdown on elected mayors from the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), five HDP district co-mayors have been detained in the eastern province of Van on accusations of terrorism, according to Turkish media reports.

Muradiye district co-mayors Yılmaz Şalan and Leyla Balkan, Özalp co-mayors Yakup Almaç and Dilan Örenci and Başkale co-mayor Erkan Acar were detained on Friday as part of an investigation overseen by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Since the local elections of March 31, a total of 23 HDP mayors have been ousted from office and subsequently arrested. Ankara accuses the HDP of links to the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In August Turkey first removed the mayors of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van, three metropolitan cities won by the HDP. The controversial practice of removing and arresting mayors was also widely implemented during Turkey’s two-year-long state of emergency following an attempted coup in 2016.

A risky step on immunities

MURAT YETKİN

  • May 21 2016

By MURAT YETKİNmurat.yetkin@hurriyet.com.tr



The Turkish Parliament approved a bill on May 20 to pass a temporary constitutional change to allow the trial of MPs who have legal cases pending against them by lifting their legal immunities. Some 139 deputies in the 550-seat Turkish Parliament have a total of 682 files against their name. Among those are files against three party leaders: Selahattin Demirtaş of the Kurdish problem-focused Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has 75 files against him, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has 41, and Devlet Bahçeli of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has nine.

According to the political party groups, the HDP deputies top the list with a total of 417 files, followed by the CHP with 195, and the MHP with 20. Deputies from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) have 46 files in total. Among the 682 total files, 216 are “terrorism-related,” almost all of which are against HDP deputies, and 201 are “insult” files, mostly related to “insults” targeting President Tayyip Erdoğan. Most of these are against CHP and HDP deputies.

The change voted for on May 20 covers all parties, but the step was initiated by the AK Parti following Erdoğan’s statement that MPs who “talk on behalf of the terrorists” - implying militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - should not be able to hide behind the cover of parliamentary immunity. He said they should be considered terrorists too. 

Erdoğan was targeting the HDP members of parliament, accusing them of carrying weapons in their cars, attending the funerals of killed militants, and praising them.

The debate is similar to the case 22 years ago, when the immunities of four deputies were lifted, leading to their trial and imprisonment in 1994. That did not help the Kurdish problem get any closer to a peaceful solution.

The bill was approved with the votes of the AK Parti, the MHP and partly the CHP, which was divided over the vote. Without support from within the CHP the bill would have been taken to a referendum. Erdoğan said in a speech right after the vote that the CHP saw that if the bill was taken to a referendum it could have been approved with 70-80 percent support from the public, so some CHP deputies voted to approve it in order to avoid this.

The vote on immunities was another test of Erdoğan’s power ahead of a possible vote for a constitutional change shifting Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system in the coming months. Erdoğan may or may not have the MHP’s support for a presidential system - and he is highly unlikely to have support from the CHP and HDP for a strong presidential system - but he is likely to try a referendum. 

This power test has left another mark on the Turkish Parliament’s record of representativeness. After all, the HDP won 59 seats in the Nov. 1, 2015 election, more than the MHP, for example. Terrorism is a heavy accusation to make and there is a thin line between speech and action regarding terrorism-related accusations, especially in Turkey which is engaged in a serious campaign against not only the PKK but also against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or DAESH using Arabic initials.

What’s more, it may not only be MPs from the HDP that are put on trial. Kılıçdaroğlu has said that no CHP member is afraid of being put in jail for the party’s fight for a better democracy. HDP co-chair Demirtaş has also said his party members are not afraid of being jailed, which would also carry a cost for the ruling AK Parti and Erdoğan. 

Such jailing might trigger reactions in the West, especially within the EU, which is trying to maintain a fragile deal with Turkey over the control of refugees triggered by the Syrian civil war and the reactivation of Turkey’s membership negotiations. The spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on May 20 that she might raise the issue with Erdoğan when she meets him in Istanbul next week during the U.N. Humanitarian Summit. Source

 

Turkey sends 3 more Kurdish mayors to prison on terror charges

A Turkish court has arrested three district mayors in the country’s Southeast who were previously removed from office by the Interior Ministry, the Turkish media reported.Savur district Co-mayor Gülistan Öncü, Mazıdağı district Co-mayor Nalan Özaydın and Derik district Co-mayor Mülkiye Esmez, all in Mardin province, who were detained following police raids on Nov.15, were arrested on Tuesday.

The mayors face charges of membership in a terrorist organization.

Ankara accuses the the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of links to militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It has now replaced some 15 mayors from the HDP on alleged links to terrorism since municipal elections in March. In August Turkey first removed the mayors of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van, three metropolitan cities won by the HDP.

All the mayors, who were democratically elected in local elections on March 31, have been removed from office by Turkey’s Interior Ministry.


28 November 2019:
Thousands of pro-Kurdish party members detained in Turkey since 2015


13 November 2019:
Four HDP Mayors Replaced with Trustees

24 October 2019:
Turkish Parliament receives 30 summaries of proceedings for 19 HDP deputies


22 October 2019:

Trustees Appointed to 4 HDP Municipalities


18 October 2019:
Turkish authorities arrest, replace mayors in Kurdish-majority Hakkari province

10 October 2019:
Prosecutor seeks 30 years for Kurdish mayor removed from office by Turkish gov’t

8 October 2019:
HDP deputies face highest number of requests to revoke their immunity

4 October 2019:
Former HDP deputy released from prison after Turkey's Constitutional Court ruling

30 September 2019:
Police Attack ‘Democracy Watch’ in İstanbul, HDP MP Kemal Bülbül Hospitalized

14 September 2019:
Pro-Kurdish MP Güven under investigation for terror propaganda

3 September 2019:
2 Kurdish mayors challenge Interior Ministry’s expulsion decision in court

Turkey sentences 41 ex-mayors from Kurdish party to nearly 260 years in prison

 
Turkish police continues operations against dominantly Kurdish party

Turkish police have detained members of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in operations in seven provinces on Friday, Evrensel newspaper reported . 

Ten senior members of the HDP were detained in Ankara, while the police had arrest warrants for 30 people, including lawyers, on charges of making terrorist propaganda, Evrensel said.

Some 18 members of the HDP detained in Istanbul on Thursday are expected to be formally charged by prosecutors on Friday, Evrensel said. Police also raided the houses of several others on Friday morning. 

In the eastern province of Erzurum, three members of the HDP were detained over social media posts dating from 2014, according to Evrensel. ,

Large-scale operations against pro-Kurdish party started on Tuesday in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, where 10 of its members were detained.

Police this week also blocked several attempts by HDP politicians and members to organise demonstrations in solidarity with Leyla Güven, a Kurdish lawmaker, who has been on partial hunger strike for 100 days to protest the isolation of jailed outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan

The governor of the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Friday banned a rally that was supposed to end in front of Güven’s house, Artı Gerçek reported. Güven is in a critical condition and the Kurdish lawmaker was taken home on Wednesday after she was hospitalised, but refused treatment.

 

Turkey prosecutor seeks arrest of 16 pro-Kurd politicians before elections

 

The Status of HDP MPs by September 2017

 

3 HDP branch chairmen in İstanbul detained for supporting deputy on hunger strike

 

2 more jailed Kurdish politicians to start hunger strike protesting visitor
ban on PKK leader



Abductions in Turkey
and abroud


Abductions in Turkey

Turkey’s Changing
Media Landscape

Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing

Key human rights
violations in Turkey


Police, Watchmen Involved in Torture, Ill-Treatment
About Some sources Gladio B: Gulen & CIA.
Abduction/ missing persons Brain drain Torture