The Constitutional Court of Türkiye (AYM) has rejected an appeal by the People's Democratic Party (HDP), a party closely associated with the PKK terrorist organization, to adjourn the ban against it until after elections in May, said the court on Thursday.
The HDP has been facing a shutdown of its activities since 2021 when a Supreme Court prosecutor launched a lawsuit accusing party leaders and members of colluding with the PKK and affiliated groups, acting in a way that defies the democratic and universal rules of law and aiming to destroy and eliminate the indivisible integrity of the state (with its country and nation).
As part of the ongoing case, the Constitutional Court earlier this month blocked the HDP’s bank accounts that receive Treasury funds on grounds of it having “organic ties” to the PKK terrorist organization and using the funds in line with the aims of the group. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization in Türkiye, along with the United States and the European Union.
The court is set to reevaluate its decision on whether the suspension will be removed or stay in effect. In the meantime, the prosecution made its final argument for a ban on the party, citing the “clear fact that the HDP has ties to the PKK and plays a role in disrupting Türkiye’s integrity,” which is the so-called separatist agenda of the terrorist organization.
The HDP, the second-largest opposition party in Parliament, denies the charges.
Last week, it appealed to the top court for all trial procedures to be postponed until after May 14, including its verbal defense. It also asked for “at least two months of additional time due to the fact that it’s impossible for the defendant's side to prepare a defense in the allocated period of 30 days considering the scope of new information and documents in the prosecution’s request that constitutes evidence concerning the matter of the case.”
Its appeal to postpone the procedures was unanimously rejected. The court also dismissed its request for two months to prepare a defense, ruling instead to grant 15 additional days.
The party will reportedly present its verbal defense to the court on March 14 and the court rapporteur submits a final report concerning the prospective ban. Later, court members will convene for a final decision.
All 15 members of the court will reach a conclusion following a series of assessments on whether the party will be banned as per circumstances listed in Article 69 of the Constitution or stripped entirely or partially of government funding. A verdict is only possible if two-thirds of the court members, i.e., 10 of them, reach a majority vote. Should the Constitutional Court rule to ban the HDP, persons facing the verdict will not be permitted to be founders, members, directors and supervisors of another party for five years.
According to the prosecution, the HDP “cannot be considered a separate entity from the PKK.”
"Nobody heard that members of the defendant party condemn the PKK, but its administrators describe it as an armed public movement,” chief public prosecutor Bekir Şahin previously said.
He argues that the main evidence against the HDP “serving as a recruitment office for the PKK” were “children who were forced to join the terrorist group or tricked into joining them by terrorists.”
