The president and justice minister told reporters on Wednesday that the release of Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), linked to the terrorist group PKK, is up to the court.
Government ally Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli has said on Tuesday that it would be good to release Demirtaş as Türkiye works on disarmament of the PKK.
Erdoğan told reporters on the sidelines of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting on Wednesday that Türkiye had its own judiciary and the administration would comply with whatever the judiciary decides upon.
Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said a recent ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for the release of Demirtaş would be sent to an Ankara court handling Demirtaş’s case. “The court will then decide upon the appeal of the relevant parties. We will have to wait for the court’s decision,” Tunç said.
Demirtaş retired from active politics after criticizing his party over its performance in the 2023 elections.
He earlier ran as a presidential candidate against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Demirtaş has been in prison since 2016 for spreading terrorist propaganda and having ties to the PKK.
