MP candidate arrested on alleged terror charges

ISTANBUL

A parliamentary candidate for the Green Left Party (YSP) has been arrested on charges of “being a member of a terrorist organization.”

Running for a seat in the northwestern city of Kocaeli, Ayten Dönmez was detained during a raid on her house in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district early on April 26. The arrest comes as the country prepares for presidential and general elections.

Dönmez denied the accusations in her statement taken by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Referred to the judgeship for his arrest, she also said the photo allegedly taken in the PKK’s training area was not her.

The judgeship, however, said in its decision that there is concrete evidence that the suspect committed the crime of “being a member of an armed terrorist organization” and that the judicial control provisions would be insufficient.

Istanbul gendarmerie prepared a report, using a face comparison form, that the woman wearing camouflage in the photograph and the suspect were most likely the same person.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which is still in the process of the lawsuit filed in the Constitutional Court, announced that it will enter the elections from the YSP lists. The HDP has long been accused by the government of having links with the PKK.

The indictment launched by the chief prosecutor earlier this year said the permanent closure of the HDP was a legal obligation for the indivisible integrity of the Turkish state, and peace and security of the nation.

The party had garnered around 6 million votes in the latest parliamentary elections in 2018.