Turkey threatens to close pro-Kurdish party
Turkey has threatened to close pro-Kurdish party, DEM, if it maintains links to Kurdish militants, according to Middle East Online and agencies on April 24th.
Turkey’s Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc warned of legal repercussions in an official statement.
The pro-Kurdish party is the third largest in parliament and was founded in 2023 as a successor to previous party The People’s Democratic Party (HDP).
The HDP Party is facing closure over alleged links to Kurdish militants affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) with DEM now facing the same threat.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said that the party closed “for supporting terrorism”.
The PKK is defined as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the European Union.
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“Therefore, we say that if the DEM Party follows the same path, then it will face the same treatment,” he said. “We say keep your distance from terrorism if you do not want to face such a legal process.”
Meanwhile a separate court case is trying imprisoned former HDP officials over their participation in protests against ISIS’ targeting of Kurdish towns in 2014.
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In response to calls from government allies to ban the DEM Party, co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan defended her party saying, “They should not wag their fingers at us. I repeat, the policy of closure, blackmail and threats is over”.
The Turkish legal system is critiqued over it’s apparent influence under conservative President Tayyip Erdogan and his government.
After a failed peace process between the PKK and the Turkish Government in 2014, tensions between Turks and Kurds have risen.
Thousands of HDP members and officials have been arrested amid a crackdown on Kurdish militancy.
Middle East Online / Agencies
