Top prosecutor repeats call for closure of HDP

ANKARA

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) should be closed and its top officials should be banned from politics, the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Bekir Şahin has said, reiterating his call once again.

Şahin concluded his opinion based on the accusations over the ongoing closure case of the HDP on terrorism charges, which is being seen at the Constitutional Court. The HDP denied the findings by the prosecutor over its alleged links to the terrorist organizations in its written defense to the high court.

Şahin, whose indictment that seeks the closure of the HDP has already been accepted by the Constitutional Court, reiterated his opinion that the party violated the Turkish constitution by establishing links with the PKK.

The 609-page indictment said the permanent closure of the HDP was a legal obligation for the indivisible integrity of the Turkish state, peace and security of the nation. It said the party should also be fully deprived of treasury grants.

According to the procedures, the chief prosecutor’s opinion based on the accusations will be sent to the HDP so that the party can prepare its defense properly. The next step stipulates oral explanation by the chief prosecutor and oral defense by the HDP before the Constitutional Court at a time to be determined by the high court.

Then, the rapporteur of the high court will write his report based on the accusations and judges will begin to discuss the closure case of the HDP under the leadership of Constitutional Court President Zühtü Arslan. The votes of at least 10 judges out of 15 are needed for the closure of the party.

In the 2018 parliamentary elections, the HDP won 11.7 percent of the vote, or nearly 6 million votes. It has 55 lawmakers in the 600-seat parliament.