Turkey is pushing ahead with a trial against opposition lawmakers despite an international outcry. Today, the trial of 108 politicians has started in turkey. The defendants are facing 29 different criminal charges, including attempted murder, spreading terrorist propaganda, and instigating violence against the Turkish state. The prosecution is seeking a total of 19,680 years in jail — they are seeking life sentences for 38 of the accused.

It is with dismay that we observe recent developments in Turkey involving systematic repression against elected politicians, and politically motivated cases against the HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party).

The Turkish Attorney General has ordered the detention of 108 individuals, among them leading representatives of the HDP. In October 2014, the HDP called on people to support legitimate popular protests for Kobani. Now, years later, they are being held responsible for the violent clashes that erupted during the protests, and, based on this, they are being accused of terrorism. At that time, people everywhere were demonstrating against the ISIS attack on the city of Kobani and against the ongoing support for ISIS being shown by the Turkish regime. For years, the HDP has been calling for a parliamentary inquiry to shed light on what led to the violence, but President Erdogan’s ruling AKP has always rejected this proposal.

We stand firmly against this violation of the rule of law. It is unacceptable in a democracy to hold elected officials responsible for what happened at an event whose investigation is being actively hindered.

We stand in solidarity with the HDP as it faces this systematic repression. Furthermore, we say that resistance in support of Kobani cannot be criminalised. Millions of people around the world have opposed ISIS on moral grounds, and we oppose Erdogan’s policy of criminalising Kobani’s resistance. As stated by the HDP’s former Co-Chair, Selahattin Demirtas, “What really devastates Erdogan is not our people who have been brutally murdered, but ISIS’s defeat in Kobani.”

The HDP is the only party in the Turkish parliament, which calls for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Armenian National Committee – International
26 April 2021