Prosecutor launches probe into HDP co-chair Sezai Temelli
VAN
An investigation has been launched against Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Sezai Temelli over remarks he made at a meeting in the eastern province of Van, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Feb. 19.
The Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation over Temelli’s remarks in a speech he gave at an HDP event on Dec. 19, 2018 in Van, organized by the provincial organization of the party.
Temelli is facing charges of “making terrorist propaganda” and “insulting the Turkish nation, the Turkish Republic and the state’s institutions and bodies,” said the agency.
Around a dozen HDP lawmakers are currently in prison pending trial for terrorism-related offenses after their parliamentary immunities were lifted in May 2016.
The Turkish government has repeatedly accused the HDP, the third largest party in parliament, of having links to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the U.S.
