‘Kobani’ indictment in the wake of ECtHR judgement on Selahattin Demirtaş

Erdoğan declared him a criminal

President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the reporters and citizens after the cabinet meeting in the capital city of Ankara on December 28.

Erdoğan talked about a series of issues, including the recent ECtHR Grand Chamber judgement on Selahattin Demirtaş.

Repeating his former remarks on the ruling of immediate release given by the Grand Chamber, Erdoğan alleged that "the ECtHR gave a judgement which was contrary to its own legal procedures."

"In response to this, we said, 'This is double standard, we will not enforce this ruling which is given not with legal, but political motivations.' Then, they were up in arms, asking me how I could say something like that.

"If they had the authority to manage these affairs themselves, then, they would apparently release a terrorist supporter, with the blood on dozens of people in his hands, immediately," he added.

Citing a series of offenses such as "aggravated killing for 37 times", "attempted killing for 29 times", "damage to property for 3,777 times", "detention for 25 times", "theft for 295 times", "plunder for 15 times", "violating the workplace and dwelling immunity for 308 times", "burning the Turkish flag for 13 times" and "violating the Law on Protecting Atatürk for 7 times", Erdoğan alleged that Selahattin Demirtaş was "responsible for the incidents of October 6-8, 2014, when 326 security officers and 435 citizens were wounded."

Indicating that "Turkey did not deserve such a mindset of opposition," President and AKP Chair Erdoğan moved on to express his "belief that the country would introduce a radical reform of opposition with the will and wisdom of the ones voting for these parties."

What did Demirtaş say about accusations?

Selahattin Demirtaş sent a message via his attorneys on June 11, 2018 and responded to "Kobani" allegations briefly as follows:

"The date when violence and provocation began was not October 5 or 6, but October 7 and its aftermath, when Erdoğan made a statement that "Kobani fell or it is about to fall." After this statement, death started to occur.

"There is a lawsuit filed against neither me nor the executives of the HDP due to the Kobani incidents.

"The number of people massacred in Kobani is not 53, but 43. Six of them are from the [pro-Kurdish Islamist] Free Cause (HÜDAPAR), two are assassinated security offices, two are Syrian refugees and 33 are from the HDP. There is not a single effective investigation or lawsuit into the massacre of the people, except for six HÜDAPAR members.

"Kobani incidents did not start in the aftermath of June 7, 2015, as alleged by Erdoğan, but eight months before the elections, on October 7, 2014.

"Our talks with Erdoğan and AKP as part of the resolution process [for the Kurdish question] continued for five months after the Kobani incidents. In other words, Erdoğan continued meeting us, whom he now declares terrorists, for five more months.

"The 12 Parliamentary questions and inquiries that we submitted to the Parliament to uncover the provocateurs and instigators behind the Kobani incidents were rejected by the AKP MPs.

"Erdoğan does not even care about Yasin Börü and the massacred people. Erdoğan did not shy away from using this as a tool of exploitation and, for this reason, he brought up the issue during election periods.

"Just like Yasin Börü, our citizens such as Ekrem Karaçoğlu and Musa Bayram in Gaziantep and İzmir were lynched before the cameras. However, their perpetrators were not found. Erdoğan did not even know the names of these people. Because these people are from the HDP.

"What makes Erdoğan miserable is not our brutally massacred citizens, but the fact that the ISSI was defeated in Kobani.

"It was [the then Interior Minister] Efkan Ala, who himself told us that some governors and security officers did not obey the instructions of the government during the Kobani incidents. These people were arrested for plotting a coup after June 15 [2016]. However, no investigation has been conducted against these people over Kobani incidents.

"Just as in the case of Roboski Massacre, the massacre of Berkin, Ceylan and Uğur, the person who is politically responsible for Kobani incidents is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. To hide this responsibility, he keeps on accusing me with his insidious lies and slanders."

About Kobani protests

Before the protests held to support Kobani in northern Syria in 2014, those who were waiting in the district of Suruç, Urfa in southeastern Turkey and wanted to cross the border were intervened with pepper gas and rubber bullets. In the meantime, some pictures allegedly showing ISIS militia crossing the border of Turkey were published.

President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements indicating that they equated PKK with ISIS. While the wounded coming from Kobani were kept waiting on the border, the wounded from ISIS were treated at hospitals. Several news reports were reported in the press, saying "Kobani fell." These news reports were denied every time.

After the HDP made a call to take to the streets against a possible massacre in Kobani, thousands of people protested in Kurdish-majority provinces as well as Ankara and İstanbul. While left parties also supported these protests, deaths also occurred with the onset of police violence. Street conflicts ensued. 42 people lost their lives from October 6 to 12, 2014.

According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), 46 people died, 682 people were wounded and 323 people were arrested in the protests held between September 7 and 12, 2014. As reported by the AA, 31 people lost their lives, 221 citizens and 139 police officers were wounded.