EU slams Turkish moves against Kurdish party, legislator

Pro-Kurdish Peoples鈥� Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Omer Gergerlioglu and party colleagues protest after the Turkish Parliament stripped him of his MP status, Ankara, Turkey, Mar. 17, 2021. (Reuters)
Short Url
  • Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu was expelled from parliament after an appeals court upheld his conviction on terrorist propaganda charges over a social media post
  • Gergerlioglu, a human rights advocate and lawmaker from the HDP party, said the case against him was politically motivated and that he was unjustly stripped of his seat

ANKARA, Turkey: The European Union on Thursday criticized Turkish authorities for stripping a prominent pro-Kurdish legislator of his parliamentary seat and seeking to shut down his political party, saying these moves add to concerns over the 鈥渂acksliding of rights鈥� in Turkey.
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a human rights advocate and lawmaker from the People鈥檚 Democratic Party, or HDP, was expelled from parliament on Wednesday after an appeals court upheld his conviction on terrorist propaganda charges over a social media posting. Gergerlioglu says the case against him was politically motivated, and argues that he was unjustly stripped of his seat in parliament before Turkey鈥檚 highest court reviews his case.
Hours later, a top prosecutor filed a lawsuit with Turkey鈥檚 Constitutional Court seeking to disband the HDP for alleged ties to the banned Kurdistan Workers鈥� Party, or PKK, and to bar more than 600 of its members from politics for five years.
The moves in parliament and by the prosecutor were the latest in a years-long crackdown on the second-largest opposition party in parliament. Dozens of elected HDP lawmakers and mayors 鈥� including former co-chair Selahattin Demirtas 鈥� as well as thousands of party members have been arrested on terror-related accusations.
鈥淐losing the second largest opposition party would violate the rights of millions of voters in Turkey,鈥� EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell and Oliver Varhelyi, the EU enlargement commissioner said in a joint statement. 鈥淚t adds to the EU鈥檚 concerns regarding the backsliding in fundamental rights in Turkey and undermines the credibility of the Turkish authorities鈥� stated commitment to reforms.鈥�
The United States also spoke out against the steps taken against Gergerlioglu and his party, with State Department spokesman Ned Price saying efforts to dissolve the HDP 鈥渨ould unduly subvert the will of Turkish voters, further undermine democracy鈥痠n Turkey, and deny millions of Turkish citizens their chosen representation.鈥�
A senior Turkish official however, called for respect for Turkey鈥檚 judiciary and insisted the HDP has 鈥渙rganic ties to the PKK.鈥�
鈥淗DP鈥檚 senior leader and spokespeople, through their words and deeds, have repeated and consistently proved that they are the PKK鈥檚 political wing,鈥� said Fahrettin Altun, the presidential communications director, on Twitter.
The PKK is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the EU and the US