Turkey’s state prosecutor filed a case with the constitutional court demanding the closure of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) party, third largest party, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on March 17.
Bekir Sahin, chief public prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, said in the indictment that that the HDP, through the action and statements of its members, had attempted “to destroy the inseparable integrity of the Turkish state with the nation”.
In the past two years, the Turkish government has dismissed 50 out of 53 HDP mayors from office, and over 7,000 of the party’s members have been detained over terrorism charges. There are indictments against 55 MPs.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, the nationalist leader of the right-wing MHP, called for the closure of the HDP in recent months, citing alleged ties to the PKK, an armed militant group designated as a terror group by Turkey, the EU and the US.
The HDP has denied all accusations of links to the PKK.
