Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday slammed a far-right politician who called for the shutting down of the pro-Kurdish party, which is already experiencing a severe crackdown by the government
“The HDP is a terror issue, a home for separatism and a sinister weapon aimed at our democratic security,” claimed Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli in a tweet on Friday. “The capacity of Turkish politics to tolerate the HDP is over. This bed of terror and separatism must be closed.”
This is not the first time Bahceli urges for the closing down of the HDP, but Friday’s declaration comes at a time when the party has come under increased pressure by a government in which the MHP is a de facto ruling party.
The HDP gained 65 of over a thousand municipalities in the March 2019 local elections, but a large majority of the HDP’s representatives have been ousted from their positions by the government, with trustees appointed in their place. The party commonly experiences raids on their offices, and dozens of officials and supporters are regularly detained - mostly accused of having links the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The clampdowns have been slammed locally and internationally.
The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased cultural and political rights of Kurds in Turkey. It is classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
The HDP responded to Bahceli’s call hours later, telling him to shut his mouth.
“Those who rely on the government and take shelter in the comfortable shade of the [presidential] palace are the real enemies of this country … If you shut your mouth instead of shutting down the HDP, you will be doing great favor to the future of the country,” said the HDP in a tweet.
Social media users launched #HDPHalktir (which translates to “HDP is the people”) in solidarity with the pro-Kurdish party.
The HDP was formed in 2012 by members of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). Both parties consider themselves pro-Kurdish and still have an alliance. The HDP is seen as the successor of Democratic Society Party (DTP) which was founded in 2005 but closed by the Turkish Constitutional Court in 2009 for allegedly trying to divide Turkey.
“It has been 11 years since the DTP was closed,” said the HDP in a separate tweet on Friday.
“Political tradition represented by the DTP have been further strengthened today within our party.”
- Kurdish-focused parties like the Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) and People’s Democracy Party (HADEP) have also been banned for their alleged links to the PKK
