Top court temporarily blocks HDP’s treasury aid

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) will not be granted financial aid by the state for the year 2023 until the Constitutional Court finalizes the court case against the party that seeks its closure due to alleged links to the terror organization, the top court has said.

Upon an indictment by the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Bekir Şahin, the Constitutional Court is in a process of hearing a court case against the HDP. On Dec. 19, 2022, Şahin officially demanded that the high court should freeze the bank accounts of the HDP as the money allocated by the state is being funneled to the PKK.

The Constitutional Court decided with majority votes that the bank accounts of the HDP should be temporarily frozen upon the chief prosecutor’s demand until the final verdict will be given. The political parties in Türkiye are subject to receiving financial aid from the Treasury in the proportion of the votes they receive in the national elections. It will be transferred to the accounts of the parties on Jan. 10.

The HDP was supposed to receive 539 million Turkish Liras for 2023.

The court will review the decision a month after listening to the HDP’s statements about freezing the accounts.

On the closure case, Bekir Şahin will orally defend his indictment before the top court on Jan. 10. The HDP will make its oral defense 30 days after the chief prosecutor. Following this procedure, a rapporteur will prepare a report on the court case and submit it to the top judges for the final verdict. Banning a political party requires at least the votes of 10 judges out of 15.