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Turkey
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu (front row centre) and his colleagues pose after the parliament stripped his parliamentary seat in Ankara on March 17, 2021. Photo:Adem Altan/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The US Department of State has slammed the Turkish parliament’s expulsion of a Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP and attempts at dissolving the pro-Kurdish party, asking the Turkish government “to respect freedom of expression.”
“The United States is closely following events in Turkey, including troubling moves on March 17 to strip Member of Parliament Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu of his parliamentary seat,” read a statement by the department.
Gergerlioglu, who is also a human rights activist, was sentenced to two years and a half on February 21, 2018 for a 2016 tweet in which he shared a news article that included a statement from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) saying, “peace would come if the government takes one step forward.”
He shared the article with a comment: “This call should be evaluated properly. There is no end to this work,” referring to the decades-long conflict between Ankara and the PKK. He was accused by the court of making propaganda for the PKK. Nearly half a year after the court decision, Gergerlioglu was elected to parliament on the HDP’s ticket.
A top Turkish court upheld the verdict last month, sending it to parliament to expel Gergerlioglu from the legislature. The parliament announced his expulsion on Wednesday, angering the politician and his party.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday called on Ankara to not expel Gergerlioglu from parliament.
“We are also monitoring the initiation of efforts to dissolve the People’s Democratic Party, a decision that would unduly subvert the will of Turkish voters, further undermine democracy in Turkey, and deny millions of Turkish citizens their chosen representation,” added the state department.
“We call on the Government of Turkey to respect freedom of expression in line with protections in the Turkish constitution and with Turkey’s international obligations,” it added.
The Chief Prosecutor at Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals filed a lawsuit at the country’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday for the dissolution of the HDP, state media reported.
This action comes amid calls from some members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to close the party.
The HDP is accused by some Turkish officials and politicians of being the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but the party has denied any organic links to the group. Because the PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Ankara, scores of HDP supporters, members and officials have been arrested on terror-related charges.
The HDP was formed in 2012 by members of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). Both parties consider themselves pro-Kurdish, and are still in alliance. The HDP is seen as the successor of Democratic Society Party (DTP) which was founded in 2005 but closed by the Turkish Constitutional Court in 2009 for allegedly trying to divide Turkey.
Kurdish-focused parties like the Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) and People’s Democracy Party (HADEP) have also been banned for their alleged links to the PKK.
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