Turkish Constitutional Court Accepts Indictment Seeking Ban On Pro-Kurdish HDP Party

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2021) Turkey's Constitutional Court unanimously accepted an indictment seeking to shut down the pro-Kurdish and opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), national media reported on Monday.

The court returned the indictment of the chief prosecutor's office to ban the HDP on March 31 due to procedural omissions. After making amendments, the prosecutor again delivered the indictment to the court. The prosecutor accuses the HDP of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which is considered by Turkey a terrorist organization.

According to Turkish Anadolu Agency, the indictment will be sent to the HDP for pre-defense and answering the accusations.

Subsequently, the court will set date in order to make a decision on the indictment. In order to make a decision to ban or impose financial restrictions on the party, a majority vote of 10 out of 15 members of the court is required.

In Turkey, numerous pro-Kurdish and Islamist political parties have been banned. In the last parliamentary elections held in 2018, the HDP won 11.7% of the vote and 67 seats in the 600-seat parliament. However, the HDP currently has 55 seats in the parliament, as some HDP lawmakers were unseated and others resigned from the party. Selahattin Demirtas, who was the former co-leader of the HDP, has been in prison since November 2016.