KCK case starts with ‘so-called Kurds’ controversy

VAN – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Van’s arrested mayor, Bekir Kaya, refused to issue a defense statement in court during the first hearing of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trial to take place in the southeastern province of Van because the prosecutor called suspects “so-called Kurds” in indictment papers.

The 5th High Criminal Court began to try 13 suspects today, 10 of whom are under arrest, including Bekir Kaya.

A 720-page indictment was read aloud, but Kaya interrupted the reading and said he did not accept the indictment as it was a political document, not a legal indictment.

 “It is like a leaflet of a political party. Along with it, the prosecutor who prepared the indictment used ‘so called Kurds’ as an expression. This step is out of line. I do not accept such an indictment, I demand it to be overturned and I will not talk from now on,” Kaya said.

The lawyers also demanded the court board drop the case but the court board refused accept any of the demands.

The vice head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party Sezgin Tanrıkulu attended the trial as an observer along with Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputies Özdal Üçer and Pervin Buldan and Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir.

The legal case against the KCK, the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has been deadlocked as courts have rejected defendants’ demands to speak Kurdish when giving their defense.

Kaya, who was detained June 7 as part of the ongoing KCK probe, also joined the hunger strike Oct. 18, his lawyers announced.