Kobanî trial | ‘1 US Dollar was 6 Turkish Lira when we were jailed’

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The second session of the 8th hearing of the Kobanî trial was held at the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court yesterday (December 21).

In the trial over the "October 6-8, 2014 Kobanî protests", there are 108 defendants, 21 arrested, including former HDP Co-Chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) former Co-Chair Sebahat Tuncel and HDP Central Executive Board members.

Gülfer Akkaya and Berfin Özgü Köse, not arrested pending trial, attended the hearing via video conference by using the Audio and Visual Information System (SEGBİS). The arrested defendants attended the hearing from prisons via the SEGBİS system. The politicians arrested in the Sincan Prison, where the hearings take place, were present in the courtroom.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs Erdal Aydemir, Abdullah Koç, Serpil Kemalbay, the relatives of the jailed politicians and HDP Ankara provincial and district organization executives also watched the hearing.

'We naturally talk politics'

Attending the hearing via video conference as a complainant, Celaleddin Kaya stated, "My shop was damaged. I attended to say that I did not want to attend the trial. I do not press charges."

Taking the floor at the hearing, former HDP Central Executive Board member Bülent Parmaksız said, "I will not make defense but I will say something that concerns the trial." In response to this, the court board told Parmaksız, "Make defense as to the accusations; we don't do politics here." Parmaksız responded: "You put us on trial over politics; we naturally talk politics."

In his statement, Parmaksız referred to President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's remarks of "Interest is the cause, inflation is the result."

Parmaksız said, "The result is this: The interest rate (policy rate) was cut but the inflation constantly increased. This is the data that shows that the argument about the interest being the cause and inflation being the result is not correct. Their only concern is to have a current surplus."

Arguing that "the fields of duty are intertwined," Parmaksız said:

"Their argument has once again collapsed. What they declare as the new model is [based on having] 'low interest rates and high foreign exchange rates.' Turkish Lira is losing value against foreign exchanges. You have had a current surplus but the USD exchange rate has not dropped. Because the Central Bank does not have foreign currencies. The aim was to cut the interest rate but the exchange rates increased."

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'They don't abide by top court rulings'

Recalling that the 2022 budget talks have just come to an end, Parmaksız said that "the budget deficit has already started to increase."

Referring to the AKP government, he said:

"This government will leave. There are several reasons for this government to leave. Devaluation will make this government leave."

He also recalled that "when they were arrested, the exchange rate of the US dollar was around 6 Turkish Lira; it increased to 18 later on."

Warning that "a turbulent period is awaiting Turkey", Parmaksız stated, "You don't release us; the numbers have come to this point. They do not abide by the rulings of the Constitutional Court or the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). You have to abide by the law. This case is a political case. There is nothing to be said legally here. It needs to be said politically."

From the Kobanî indictment

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment regarding the Kobanî protests that took place on October 6-8, 2014.

108 people, including the arrested former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş, were among the "suspects".

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), the indictment demanded the penalization of all suspects on charges of "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state", "killing for 37 times, "attempted killing for 31 times", "burning the flag" and "violating the Law on Protecting Atatürk."

Prepared by the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the indictment was sent to the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court. The court accepted the indictment on January 7, 2021.

Here are the names of all defendants: Figen Yüksekdağ, Sebahat Tuncel, Selahattin Demirtaş, Selma Irmak, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Gülfer Akkaya, Gülser Yıldırım, Gültan Kışanak, Ahmet Türk, Ali Ürküt, Alp Altınörs, Altan Tan, Ayhan Bilgen, Nazmi Gür, Ayla Akat Ata, Aysel Tuğluk, İbrahim Binici, Ayşe Yağcı, Nezir Çakan, Pervin Oduncu, Meryem Adıbelli, Mesut Bağcık, Bircan Yorulmaz, Bülent Barmaksız, Can Memiş, Cihan Erdal, Berfin Özgü Köse, Günay Kubilay, Dilek Yağlı, Emine Ayna, Emine Beyza Üstün, Mehmet Hatip Dicle, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Yurdusev Özsökmenler, Arife Köse, Ayfer Kordu, Aynur Aşan, Ayşe Tonğuç, Azime Yılmaz, Bayram Yılmaz, Bergüzar Dumlu, Cemil Bayık, Ceylan Bağrıyanık, Cihan Ekin, Demir Çelik, Duran Kalkan, Elif Yıldırım, Emine Tekas, Emine Temel, Emrullah Cin, Engin Karaaslan, Enver Güngör, Ercan Arslan, Fatma Şenpınar, Fehman Hüseyin, Ferhat Aksu, Filis Arslan, Filiz Duman, Gönül Tepe, Gülseren Törün, Gülten Alataş, Gülüşan Eksen, Gülüzar Tural, Güzel İmecik, Hacire Ateş, Hatice Altınışık, Hülya Oran, İsmail Özden, İsmail Şengül, Kamuran Yüksek, Layika Gültekin, Leyla Söğüt Aydeniz, Mahmut Dora, Mazhar Öztürk, Mazlum Tekdağ, Abdulselam Demirkıran, Mehmet Taş, Mehmet Tören, Menafi Bayazit, Mızgın Arı, Murat Karayılan, Mustafa Karasu, Muzaffer Ayata, Nazlı Taşpınar, Neşe Baltaş, Nihal Ay, Nuriye Kesbir, Remzi Kartal, Rıza Altun, Ruken Karagöz, Sabiha Onar, Sabri Ok, Salih Akdoğan, Salih Müslüm Muhammed, Salman Kurtulan, Sara Aktaş, Sibel Akdeniz, Şenay Oruç, Ünal Ahmet Çelen, Yahya Figan, Yasemin Becerekli, Yusuf Koyuncu, Yüksel Baran, Zeki Çelik, Zeynep Karaman, Zeynep Ölbeci, Zübeyir Aydar.

About Kobanî protests

Before the protests held to support Kobanî 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 Kobanî were kept waiting on the border, the wounded from ISIS were treated at hospitals. Several news reports were reported in the press, saying "Kobanî fell." These news reports were denied every time.

After the HDP made a call to take to the streets against a possible massacre in Kobanî, 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.

(AÖ/SD)