Before the foundation of the HDP, five pro-Kurdish parties were closed down. “Parties were closed down, what happened? Have social and political problems been solved by closing the parties?” asks Züleyha Gülüm, Spokesperson of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Law and Human Rights Commission and HDP Istanbul MP, adding, “The AKP should know from its past that the closure of a party is not a ‘solution’; on, On the contrary, it has consequences that strengthen the politics of the party being banned. Just as the systematic attacks that have been going on since 2015 have not prevented us from being the most dynamic opposition party, the closures will be useless.”

EKİM ZEYNEP YAĞMUR

Ankara- Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) defines itself as a “women's party” and has taken important and realistic steps about women's representation since its foundation. But the party has been threatened to be closed down. The HDP members have been faced arrests, detentions, and pressure since 2015 and the last discussion around the closure of the party has become a means of changing the agenda in Turkey. Despite these, the HDP never stops working.

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli targeted the HDP and called for the HDP to be banned. However, it is not clear yet how the AKP will respond to this call. Some people think that the call by the MHP is an attempt to “draw a line for its ally AKP” while some think these discussions will be one of the important "tests" of the allies or perhaps one of the breaking points for their coalition. While the discussions are going on, the HDP members have no intention of leaving the area of democratic politics.

Operations against the People's Democratic Party (HDP) has continued since 2015. Thousands of members and supporters of the HDP have been detained, arrested, and held in prison, particularly since the Turkish general election held on June 7, 2015. Since 2015, 16,490 members or supporters of the HDP have been detained, 5066 of them have been held in prison. Its co-chairs, 18 MPs, 23 Central Executive Board members, 21 Council members, and more than 800 provincial and district administrators were arrested. Now the party’s 17 MPs and 15 Central Executive Board members are behind bars. In addition, 13 MPs were stripped of parliamentary immunity and expelled from office. Only in 2020, at least 1750 members and executives of the party were detained and 172 members were arrested.  The report prepared by the HDP reveals that more than 16,000 people have been detained since 2015. The total number of people held in prison is 5,066 people. The HDP says this number may be more. Before the HDP, five pro-Kurdish parties were banned and closed down but their struggle never ends. The last closed pro-Kurdish party by the AKP is the Democratic Society Party (DTP). HDP members ask: Parties were closed down, what happened? Have social and political problems been solved by closing the parties? Has the Kurdish issue been solved in a democratic and peaceful way?

“HDP is not a party consisting of just a signboard”

We talked to Züleyha Gülüm, Spokesperson of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Law and Human Rights Commission and HDP Istanbul MP, about the last discussion on the party and the arrest and detention of its members.

We asked her how many party members and executives have been detained as a result of political operations against the HDP since 2015, how many people have been arrested. “As a result of political operations against our party, party members, voters, and its components since 2015, more than 16,000 people have been detained, and about 4,000 people, including our party’s co-chairs, deputies, provincial-district co-chairs, administrators, and party members, have been arrested. Our co-chairs, 18 MPs, 23 Central Executive Board members, 21 Council members, and more than 800 provincial and district administrators have been arrested until now. Now our party’s 17 MPs and 15 Central Executive Board members are behind bars. In addition, 13 MPs were stripped of parliamentary immunity and expelled from office,” Züleyha Gülüm told us.

Züleyha Gülüm also talked about the situation before and after the Peace process. “HDP had a great victory in the general election held in Turkey on June 7, 2015. After this victory, the ruling party ended the solution process and launched a wave of attacks against all opponents, particularly against the HDP. After the attempted coup in 2016, many human rights violations took place in the country during the long-lasted state of emergency. The          continual attacks against the HDP members and supporters started.”

“Six million of Kurdish and Turkish people voted for the HDP”

Taking about the smear campaign against the HDP, Züleyha Gülüm told us, “Six million Kurdish and Turkish people voted for the HDP. But the HDP has been tried to be smeared, discredited, and criminalized. For instance, the HDP is the party most spoken, discussed by the pro-AKP media. At the TV programs, the HDP has become the most discussed party, the HDP has been subjected to many various unfounded accusations but it hasn’t had a right to speak, the HDP representatives are ignored and never invited to talk about the accusations against them. The will of voters of the HDP and the Kurdish people have been ignored by appointing trustees to HDP-held municipalities, arresting elected MPs and attacking their political gains. But this will never discourage us; we will continue to represent the people.”

“The HDP has the will of the people in Turkey”

“Closing the HDP, sealing its doors, restricting our opportunities to do politics for our people is only an attempt, everyone knows that the HDP is not a party consisting of just a signboard; it has the will of the people in Turkey. It received millions of votes. It is the third biggest party in the country. Today, all unions, professional organizations, human rights advocates, scientists, women's organizations, environmental organizations, and people demanding freedom and democracy know that the attack on the HDP is not only the problem of the HDP. This problem is the problem of democracy and law that completely destroyed in Turkey. The AKP should know from its past that the closure of a party is not a ‘solution’; on the contrary, it has consequences that strengthen the politics of the party being banned. Just as the systematic attacks that have been going on since 2015 have not prevented us from being the most dynamic opposition party, the closures will be useless.”