Government ally Bahçeli says both HDP and Constitutional Court should be closed

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Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli has said that the closure of the Constitutional Court has become a "nondeferrable target" as the closure of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

"Is the Constitutional Court in favor of the rule of law or is it a kowtower of separatism?" he said in a written statement yesterday (March 31).

His comments came after the top court returned an indictment seeking the closure of the HDP over its alleged "terror" activities on procedural grounds.

The decision showed that the court was "insensitive" towards Turkey's fight against separatism and terrorism, according to Bahçeli.

"As much as the HDP's closure, the closure of the Constitutional Court should now also be nondeferrable target," his statement reads. "The Constitutional Court's verdict of return is null and void in the national conscience. It has greatly harmed Turkey's right to existence not only on procedural grounds but also on the merits."

The decision would gain HDP time on the excuse of procedural deficiencies, Bahçeli also asserted.

The chief prosecutor of the Court of Cassation on March 17 filed an indictment seeking the closure of the HDP for its alleged ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as well as a political ban on 687 members.

The closure case came after a years-long crackdown on the party, which included the imprisonment of its former MPs and co-chairs and the replacement of its mayors with government-appointed trustees.

Over the past few months, Bahçeli has been calling on the top courts to take action to close the HDP.

The HDP has dismissed the indictment as it mostly concerns ongoing investigations against members rather than final court judgments.

The rapporteur of the Constitutional Court on March 30 requested that the indictment be returned to the Court of Cassation prosecutor. (EKN/VK)