AN OPEN CALL FOR A STEP TOWARDS NORMALIZATION IN TURKISH POLITICS:
RELEASE THE KOBANE PRISONERS!
15 May 2024
The final verdict will be delivered tomorrow on 16 May 2024 in the case against 108 people, 18 of whom are imprisoned, including former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, known as the Kobane Trial, at the 22nd High Criminal Court in Ankara. İHD believes that this verdict is an important turning point in the course of Turkish politics in the coming period.
The courts in Turkey, which are supposed to base their decisions on rights and freedoms, have almost always acted under the influence of the political powers, and this has led the country, which does not have a strong culture of democracy and human rights, to move away from the rule of law guaranteed by the Constitution. Starting with the Independence Courts and continuing with the Martial Law Courts, State Security Courts and Specially Authorized Courts, the system has sought to unlawfully punish anyone who opposes the official ideology. The most recent and current example of this situation is the Kobane Trial, which is heard at the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court (Merits No. 2021/6).
Since 2015, the political power has suppressed all dissident groups, especially the Kurds, with the powerful means at its disposal and has completely narrowed the political/democratic space for political action. The Kobane Trial, which is the most important example of the judicial processes that started to remove the HDP from the political arena and criminalize it, was initiated and continues in disregard of universal legal standards. Despite the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which sentenced Turkey for the violations of these trials due to political motives, HDP former co-chairs and politicians are still under arrest. Bahtiyar Çolak, the judge who presided over the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court in the early stages of the case, was detained as part of the investigation into the “Atadedeler Gang that was established within the judiciary to defraud people through blackmail” and was released on judicial control. The fact that judges who arrest opposition politicians through political conspiracies take part in such illegal organizations is another gravity in terms of showing the state of the judiciary. The gross oppression and human rights violations that HDP politicians, who are seeking a democratic and peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, have been subjected to have led to the elimination of the Kurdish people’s demand for social peace and justice.
The ongoing conflict in Turkey and the successive local/general elections have created an environment in which the fundamental needs of people of Turkey are not discussed. The conflict has consolidated nationalist rhetoric, while the constant election agenda has led to daily rivalries and fights among political parties and the neglect of vital agendas that concern the entire population. Following the 31 March local election results, there has been a demand from different political circles for an end to the political atmosphere in Turkey, which has hardened over the last 9 years. There is no doubt that if this demand from the society is taken into consideration by those concerned and steps are taken, it will bring about a serious relief in every field. In a country where democracy, human rights and personal freedoms are not guaranteed, it is not possible to create reconciliation. İHD, therefore, would like to state that reconciliation, justice and law require an end to the unjust imprisonment of all those on trial in the Kobane Trial with the verdict to be delivered tomorrow on 16 May 2024, as it is the most fundamental need to produce and implement policies that will end the ongoing armed conflict and violence in Turkey.
Human Rights Association