Prosecutors seek to lift immunity of nine HDP deputies over 'Kobanê protests'

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Prosecutors in the capital city of Ankara are preparing filings for the lift of the legislative immunity of nine lawmakers from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including the party's co-leader Pervin Buldan, over the "Kobanê protests" in 2014.

A court on January 7 accepted an indictment into the incidents that left more than 40 people dead in the Kurdish-majority eastern and southeastern provinces.

As many as 108 people, mostly HDP members are facing aggravated life sentences on "terrorism" charges for orchestrating the events.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office will request the lift of the immunities of the HDP's parliamentary group deputy chairs Meral Danış-Beştaş and Hakkı Saruhan Oluç, as well as MPs Garo Paylan, Sezai Temelli, Serpil Kemalbay, Hüda Kaya, Pero Dündar and Fatma Kurtulan.

The protests in question began in late September 2014 when Isis launched an offensive to take over Kobanê, a Kurdish town in northern Syria. Incidents between different protesting groups and the police response to protesters turned violent from October 6.

Speaking to bianet, deputies Paylan and Temelli pointed out that the violence began after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, "Kobanê is about to fall."

Temelli: Isis was stopped after the HDP's efforts

"Isis was at the Mürşit Border crossing in September 2014, it was carrying out a massacre. One of the most important places where Isis was stopped was Kobanê," said Temelli.

"The opening of the humanitarian aid corridor was the priority for all the world. It was also the priority of the HDP and all parties. The meetings between Mr. Davutoğlu [Ahmet, then PM] and Mr. Demirtaş [Selahattin, then the HDP co-leader] confirm this," he said.

Following the protests, a corridor was opened from Iraq's Kurdistan Region to Kobanê to support the fight against Isis in the town.

"The HDP called for consciousness against this massacre and this was responded to. Thanks to this, Isis didn't succeed and was stopped.

"While the world was drifting towards calamity through the Middle East, this was stopped. The situation that points to a historically critical point ruined the plans of the government at the time."

Erdoğan's statement

"Erdoğan made a statement, saying, 'Kobanê is about to fall.' He was expecting the fall of Kobanê, he was implying that. People reacted to this. So, there were no violent incidents that occurred after our call. These statements by Erdoğan fueled the violence," Temelli said.

Although the government knows that it was culpable for the incidents, it is trying to portray the HDP as if it was responsible, according to Temelli.

"We submitted motions for the investigation of the Kobani incidents eight times in six years. We wanted the perpetrators of these incidents to be caught, the investigation to be carried out in all details and all the bare facts to be revealed," said Temelli. "But all eight motions for an inquiry were rejected with the votes of the AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party] and the MHP [the Nationalist Movement Party]."

He further said that there was "nothing legal" in the indictment: "The prosecutor, in a hurry, tried to create an indictment with the news he found in the press. This will be one of the most absurd indictments in legal history.

"Figen Yüksekdağ [a former HDP co-leader] and Selahattin Demirtaş, who stood trial because of this incident, were arrested twice because of this incident."

He noted that the HDP's former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ were arrested twice and the Central Executive Committee members of the HDP previously testified in an investigation into the incidents.

"Killed people were HDP members"

"All 37 people included in the indictment who lost their lives in the Kobanê incidents are HDP members and all of our attempts for the perpetrators of the killings of these people to be found were blocked. On the contrary, the HDP was blamed on the pretext of this issue," said Temelli.

"The government is treating the judges as game-fixing referees. The government is encouraging the judges to fix the game. It encourages illegality and crime.

"Devlet Bahçeli [the MHP chair] openly gives instructions to the judiciary, violating article 138 of the Constitution. The silence of those in the institutions of judiciary and law indicates that they are a party to this crime.

"Also, the ECtHR decision regarding Selahattin Demirtaş is binding. They can't get away with that by saying it is not binding. Article 90 of the Constitution clearly demonstrates why it is binding. There is an encouragement for a larger crime, there is a constitutional crime.

"Amid all these illegalities, the filings were brought to the agenda. Against all these illegalities, the social and political opposition in Turkey and lawyers should take a stance against illegality and in favor of justice.

"This case is a war against justice more than the HDP. If we don't stop this, there will be no values that we can defend in the name of rights, law and justice."

Paylan: The government thanked us at the time

MP Paylan said, "Opposition parties exist to express the mistakes by the governments. In 2014, we criticized the government's policies in Syria and the support it gave to Isis.

"We called on the government many times to react to Isis' invasion of Kobanê and open the borders. But these calls remained unanswered.

"Against this, as the HDP Central Executive Committee, called on the people to protest. On October 6, people took to the streets, protested and no one bled.

"But the incidents started on October 7, after Erdoğan said 'Kobanê is about to fall.' We faced many painful events and a great majority of those who were killed in the incidents were from the HDP.

"While these incidents were occurring, the government was cooperating with us. Our representatives had meetings with the Ministry of Interior to stop the incidents.

"We called on the people for sobriety and were thanked for this. If we did anything wrong, our immunities would be lifted and we would be arrested not after not seven years but seven hours.

"All these are political cases having political goals. They target to eliminate the HDP. Erdoğan is losing public support, he is calculating that he will be elected the president again if he eliminates the HDP, which will get 15 percent of the votes.

"But these calculations will not work, these things were done in the 90s as well."

(RT/VK)