Press releases
Press Release 27 November 2007Turkish judiciary moves to ban pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party 27 November 2007 Moves have been made in Turkey to ban the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), and expel its MPs from Parliament on charges of separatism. After the DTP called for autonomy for Kurds in the southeast of the country in mid-November, on 16 November Public Prosecutor Abdurraham Yalcinkya lodged a formal application to the Turkish Constitutional Court to close the DTP on the grounds that it had become “a centre of activities aimed at damaging the independence of the state and the indivisible integrity of its territory and nation”. Describing the DTP as "based on blood and orders from the terrorist organization of the PKK", Yalcinkya also asserted that all 221 DTP members, including 8 MPs currently sitting in Parliament, should be banned from political activity for a minimum of five years. Around 1.5 million people voted for the 22 DTP candidates who stood in the Turkish election of 22 July. The DTP’s calls have come at a time of heightened tension concerning rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the mounting possibility of a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq to counter the PKK. There is evidence of increased frustration within the DTP at the government’s hardening attitude towards the PKK and towards Kurdish political activity, with protests organised throughout the Kurdish regions in the southeast over the weekend of 17/18 November, some of which turned violent as protesters clashed with police. Many protesters carried PKK flags and chanted anti-Turkey slogans in Kurdish, adding fuel to government fears that the DTP is affiliated with the PKK. Ethnic tension has been mounting in Turkey, with the ultra-nationalist Nationalist Action Party (MHP) welcoming Yalcinkya’s moves. Earlier in November the Party’s Chairman Devlet Bahceli tried unsuccessfully to have 20 DTP members stripped of their parliamentary immunity so that they could be charged with aiding a terrorist organisation. The nationalist Republican People’s Party (CHP) also backed the move to close the DTP. A planned protest in Istanbul on 18 November was cancelled by the DTP for fear that it would be attacked by ultra-nationalist Turks, after the DTP headquarters suffered a gun attack by unknown persons in early October. But the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) condemned the attempt to close the DTP. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “we should not choose anti-democratic means against those who have entered Parliament with the votes of hundreds of thousands of our citizens”. He warned that if Kurds were prevented from participating in the political process, they were far more likely to join the PKK rebels. The AKP has been striving to project an impression of tolerance and progress on the Kurdish issue towards Europe, in its hopes for Turkish accession to the EU. The DTP would be the sixth pro-Kurdish party to be closed down by the Turkish Constitutional Court in recent years; proceedings against the fifth, the People’s Democracy Party (HADEP), are still ongoing. DTP leaders are expected to found a new party during proceedings against the DTP, in case it should be closed. On hearing of the attempt to close the DTP, its Chairman Nurettin Demitas said that he was not surprised. “Turkey has become a graveyard for political parties” he said. The EUTCC urges the Turkish government to curb judicial attempts to derail the democratic and peaceful exercise of the right to free expression, and calls on it to enter into a dialogue with all parties to come to a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue and prevent the escalation of ethnic violence in Turkey. Kariane Westrheim Contact details: Telephone: +47 976 42 088 Email: kariane.westrheim@gmail.com |