Religious Scholars Solidarity Association faces closure case

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Arrested for preaching in Kurdish and cited as the reason for Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu's 'special inquiry' against the opposition-led İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İMM) employees, the Religious Scholars Solidarity Association (DİAYDER) is now facing a closure case.

As reported by Mehmet Aslan from MA, at the interim hearing held by the İstanbul 14th High Criminal Court on December 27, 2021, it was ruled that a writ should be sent to İstanbul Governor's Office to find out whether there was an administrative investigation against the association.

The Civil Inspector's Office of the Ministry of Interior responded to this writ and argued that the DİAYDER's actions were against Article 2 of its bylaw. The Office also alleged that the activities that the DİAYDER engages in and the statements that it makes constitute a crime.

Association faces closure

Accordingly, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office argued that DİAYDER acts for purposes other than the ones indicated in its bylaw. The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation and sent an indictment to the Bakırköy Civil Court of First Instance.

In justifying the request for DİAYDER's closure, the prosecutor argued that the association's executives write for a magazine called "Ronahi" and these articles have messages of "incitement to rebellion".

As a justification for the closure request, the prosecutor referred to the Religious Scholars Solidarity Association (DİAYDER) as follows: "...that the most important actor in Kurds' struggle is the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party], Turkey is also defeated when ISIS is defeated, the state inflicts atrocity, death, plunder and massacre on Kurds, the class governing the Republic of Turkey denies Allah's verses, the regime is fascistic..."

Reference to 'indivisible integrity'

The prosecutor also argued that DİAYDER members "write column articles that incite to undermine Turkey's indivisible integrity" and cited the related articles as a justification for closing the association. The indictment referred to the articles written by DİAYDER members and cited the remarks about Turkey's ending of the operations as criminal evidence.

The prosecutor alleged that Article 2 of the association's bylaw is violated. The related article reportedly says that "the association has been established with the aim of fostering assistance, solidarity and social relations among clerics, undertaking activities for the development of democracy, peace and freedoms in our country by engaging in legal democratic activities with other civil society organizations to solve common problems..."

The prosecutor indicated that the activities of DİAYDER are in violation of this article. Referring to the two ongoing court cases against DİAYDER members and executives and the reasons cited in their indictments, the prosecutor alleged that "DİAYDER acts in line with the objectives and targets of the PKK and the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)."

For this reason, the prosecutor demanded that the activities of DİAYDER be halted as a precaution and the association be dissolved as per the Article 89 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK). (HA/SD)