HDP spokesperson accuses Turkish courts of double standards after key political figures’ relatives released

ANKARA

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şanlıurfa deputy and spokesperson Osman Baydemir has accused Turkish courts of bestowing privilege on relatives of key political figures of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), while reiterating the ongoing arrest of HDP lawmakers and journalists, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

“The sons-in-law have a fixed address, but Selahattin Demirtaş [HDP co-chair], Ahmet Şık, Ahmet Altan, Nazlı Ilıcak, hundreds of our jailed deputies, trade unionists and workers, whose houses we visit every day, do not have a fixed address?” Baydemir said on June 13 at a HDP parliamentary group meeting in the capital Ankara. 

Ekrem Yeter, the son-in-law of former Parliamentary Speaker and Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, was arrested on June 5 but released just three days later on grounds that he has a “fixed address.” 

Yeter, a former academic, is facing charges on being a member of the Fethullahist Terror Organization (FETÖ), as he was the chairman of the now-closed International Federation of Health (USAF), an organization accused of being a front for the Gülenist network.

Ömer Faruk Kavurmacı, the son-in-law of Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş, was similarly released on May 5 with a medical report that said he was epileptic. Kavurmacı was on the board of the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), which is also believed to have ties to the Gülen network. 

“Those attending law schools will note this down as the ‘sons-in-law judicial opinion.’ To be on trial without arrest is a principle of law. We face two situations. There is a practice of law implemented according to specific individuals, or there is a threats and blackmailing,” Baydemir said. 

During his speech, the HDP spokesman also thanked union representatives present at the meeting. Saying that the HDP was one of the “sole obstacles” standing in the way of labor exploitation, he noted: “By imposing a political ban on our deputies due to their speeches, the biggest corrupt operation of the Republic’s history is being carried out.”

“The dignity of this parliament has been subjected to an attack on July 15 [2016 coup attempt]. Another attack was the lifting of parliamentary immunities. Another attack on dignity was the detention of our co-leaders and deputies. This attack is continuing every day, from that day until today,” Baydemir said.