CHP deputies visit HDP, express solidarity

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Three MPs from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) have visited the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputies, who have started a "justice watch" at the parliament after Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was stripped of his MP status.

İstanbul MP Ünal Çeviköz, Konya MP Abdüllatif Şener and İzmir MP Kani Beko expressed their solidarity with Gergerlioğlu in separate visits today (March 18), the HDP said on its Twitter account.

Yesterday, HDP deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was stripped of MP status after his prison sentence for "terrorist propaganda" because a Twitter post was approved by the Court of Cassation.

Hours later, the chief public prosecutor of the Court of Cassation yesterday submitted an indictment to the Constitutional Court for the closure of the HDP, alleging that it had become a political extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

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The crackdown on the HDP

After the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ended the "resolution process" to the Kurdish question in mid-2015, the HDP has faced a government crackdown on the ground of its alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Dozens of politicians of the party, including its former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, have been behind bars since 2016.

The Ministry of Interior has dismissed 48 of the 65 HDP mayors in predominantly Kurdish regions since the 2019 local elections, citing "terror" investigations and cases against them.

In September 2020, prosecutors opened an investigation against the HDP in relation to the 2014 Kobanê protests, where dozens of people were killed. More than 100 HDP members, including the party's co-chair Pervin Buldan and MPs, are facing aggravated life sentences for having allegedly organized the protests upon orders by the PKK.

A total of 25 HDP deputies currently face losing legislative immunity over various cases against them.

On March 17, HDP deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was stripped of his parliamentary seat because of his conviction for "terror propaganda" because of a 2016 tweet.

Hours later, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation filed a lawsuit demanding the closure of the HDP for its alleged "terror activities."

(RT/VK)