Turkey has requested that the ruling on former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş be reconsidered by the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber.
The deadline to apply regarding the ruling on Demirtaş was October 8.
ECHR rulings
HDP Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, along with other politicians, have been imprisoned for nine years in connection with the October 6–8 Kobani protests. Since November 4, 2016, the ECHR has issued three separate violation rulings concerning Demirtaş and has called for his release.
Rulings:
- ECHR Chamber – November 20, 2018
- ECHR Grand Chamber – December 22, 2020
- ECHR Chamber – July 8, 2025
Turkey has not complied with any of these three rulings. Most recently, at the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers meeting, the December 22, 2020, ECHR Grand Chamber ruling was brought to the agenda, and a call was made for Demirtaş’s release.
Legal proceedings
Selahattin Demirtaş was arrested on November 4, 2016, by the Diyarbakır 2nd Criminal Court of Peace at the request of the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, on charges of membership in an armed terrorist organization and publicly inciting the public to commit crimes.
In subsequent cases tried in various provinces, Demirtaş was sentenced to 4 years and 8 months in prison by the Istanbul 26th High Criminal Court for the crime of making propaganda for a terrorist organization, and this ruling was finalized.
Demirtaş, who was also among the defendants in the case known as the Kobani trial concerning the October 6–8, 2014, protests involving 108 defendants, was sentenced to 42 years in prison by the 22nd High Criminal Court on May 16, 2024.
In this case, the court issued its detailed reasoning on June 25, 2025.
How will the process proceed?
Demirtaş’s lawyer, Mahsuni Karaman, explained the process in a social media statement several days ago. According to him, the finalization of the ruling has been paused due to Turkey’s appeal. Turkey’s appeal will be reviewed by a panel of five judges, and if the request to refer it to the Grand Chamber for appeal is accepted, the case will be reconsidered by the ECHR Grand Chamber, which consists of 17 members. During this process, the ruling will not become final.
However, if Turkey’s request to refer the case to the Grand Chamber is rejected, the ruling will be finalized. Appeals to the Grand Chamber are typically accepted only on important points concerning the interpretation of the Convention. Since a previous violation ruling has already been finalized regarding Demirtaş, it is possible that the appeal may be rejected.
Reaction from DEM Party Co-Chairs to Turkey’s “Demirtaş” appeal
DEM Party Co-Chairs Hatimoğulları and Bakırhan criticized Turkey’s appeal, saying, “Appealing the ECHR ruling is a persistence in unlawfulness and harms social peace and justice.”
Co-Chairs of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, reacted to the Ministry of Justice sending a delegation to Europe to appeal the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that found a “violation of rights” regarding the detention of former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş.
Speaking via his social media account, Bakırhan said:
“The ECHR says he must be released immediately, yet the Ministry of Justice insists on maintaining unlawfulness. The ruling is very clear: our dear Selahattin Demirtaş must be released. Persisting in refusing to recognize international law decisions carries no meaning other than admitting illegality. As a party, our long-standing struggle for justice continues today just as it has in the past; we will not let go of this unjust and unlawful situation. This country needs all of us to breathe together, to uphold peace, justice, and conscience. We will fight to the end for the freedom of Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş, and all our friends tried in the Kobani conspiracy case, and together we will march toward peace.”
“Insisting on unlawfulness and harming social peace”
Tülay Hatimoğulları also said:
“Appealing the ECHR ruling is an insistence on unlawfulness and harms social peace and justice. For nine years, Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, and dozens of our comrades have been held hostage through a fabricated case. Neither we nor the millions whose hearts beat for peace will accept insisting on injustice by keeping those who should contribute to peace behind iron bars. Our struggle for peace, law, and democracy will continue against these anti-democratic steps. The only way to strengthen faith in brotherhood is the freedom of our comrades!” (AB/MH)
