Court rejects postponement
The Constitutional Court convened today to discuss the application submitted by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) requesting that the closure case be postponed until the 2023 elections are over. The court rejected the request by a majority of votesThe Constitutional Court set March 14 for the HDP to make its defense on the merits
A rapporteur of the court asked for the rejection of the HDP's request on Wednesday, claiming that “the court has a good grasp of the case, and the file of the case is sufficiently voluminous.”
The Constitutional Court is currently being asked to order the closure of the HDP, a political party with 56 deputies in Turkey’s parliament. An indictment against the party seeks to ban 451 politicians and party members from organized political activity or membership of political parties for a period of five years and forfeiture of the party’s assets.
On January 5, the Constitutional Court agreed to a request by the chief prosecutor of the Court of Cassation for an interim measure of freezing the party’s bank accounts containing treasury support which political party groups in parliament are entitled to receive.
During the closure process, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation can present corroborating evidence to the case file, while the HDP can present additional defence. The HDP has already submitted to the Constitutional Court its defence in response to the accusations and HDP officials will make a verbal defence on a day to be scheduled.
After this process, a Constitutional Court rapporteur, who will collect information and documents related to the case, will prepare a report on the merits of the case. In the meantime, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation and the HDP will be able to submit corroborating evidence or additional written defence.
After the distribution of the report to members of the Supreme Court, the President of the Constitutional Court, Zühtü Arslan, will set a date for a meeting where the members will come together to discuss the closure request.
A 15-person Constitutional Court committee will make a decision in the closure case against the HDP. A 2/3 majority of the members attending the meeting, i.e. 10 out of 15 members, will decide whether the party will be closed pursuant to the Article 69 of the Constitution or whether the party will be partially or completely deprived of treasury aid depending on the severity of the accusations in question.
The final decision will then be notified to the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation and the HDP and will be published by the Official Gazette. Should the Constitutional Court rule that the party members who are facing a political ban caused the closure of the party through their remarks and actions, these party members will not be able to serve as a founder, member, administrator and supervisor of another party for 5 years, starting from the publication of the final decision in the Official Gazette.
Turkish election campaign in Germany
In the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held in Turkey in May, leading figures of the AKP/MHP government are on a campaign tour in Germany, disregarding the guidelines of the German government
These activities became public knowledge after the appearance of AKP MP Mustafa Açıkgöz in a mosque in Neuss on 13 January, who called on his followers to destroy opposition members of the PKK and the Gülen community. However, the extent of election campaign events of the Turkish ruling party in Germany is apparently much greater than is generally known.
The weekly German newspaper, the “Welt am Sonntag”, reported in today’s issue that more than 100 appearances by Turkish government politicians have taken place in mosques and clubhouses in Germany since September.
"What is discussed behind closed doors rarely gets out. And when it does, there are shocking insights like the one on 13 January in Neuss. At that time, the AKP member of parliament Mustafa Acikgöz spoke in a mosque, which is attributed to the right-wing extremist 'Grey Wolves', about 'destroying' supporters of the banned PKK and the Gülen movement, which is considered a terrorist organisation in Turkey. They must be pulled out of the holes they have crawled into, also in Germany," says the article, citing information by journalist Eren Güvercin based in Cologne.
Since 2017, election campaign appearances by foreign politicians have been banned in Germany three months before the vote. The reason for the new regulations were disputes in Germany in the run-up to the Turkish constitutional referendum. Since then, all political appearances by foreign government representatives outside of election campaign periods must be applied for and approved by the federal government ten days in advance.
After the calls for murder by AKP MP Açıkgöz in Neuss, the Foreign Office "invited the Turkish ambassador for a talk" and stated: "Appearances like that of a Turkish MP in Neuss must not be repeated". It was "unequivocally reminded that foreign election campaign events must be approved by us in advance". If Turkish representatives did not play by the rules, consequences would have to be considered, the ministry said.
Nevertheless, appearances by leading AKP politicians have continued to take place in Germany. The Turkish Minister of Agriculture, Vahit Kirişci, who travelled to the capital for "Green Week", met several times in public spaces with his supporters and gave speeches on the upcoming elections. On 20 January, Kirişci spoke at a meeting of the International Union of Democrats (UID), the AKP's lobby organisation in Germany, under the slogan "Turkey's Programme of the Century" about his party's election promises as "Vision 2023".
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Yasim Ekrem Serim, who travelled to Germany last week for official talks, met with leaders of Turkish fascist groups, including ADÜTDF chairman Şentürk Doğruyol. The ADÜTDF, the umbrella organisation of Turkish nationalists, which organises itself as an extended arm of the MHP, is being monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
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