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Protest against persecution of HDP politicians in Turkey

26 April 2021

Protest against persecution of HDP politicians in Turkey

Foto: SP

On Monday April 26th the ‘Kobani-trial’ started against 108 members of the HDP, a party representing approximately 10% of the electorate in Turkey. Amongst the politicians on trial are the former co-chairs of the HDP, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, who have been incarcerated for years by the Turkish authorities based on a false claim of being involved in terrorist actions. The Kobani-trial is a political trial in which HDP-politicians face absurdly high prison sentences, with the purpose to squash the Kurdish and leftist opposition. For that reason the trial receives harsh criticism throughout the world. 

As a sign of solidarity with the HDP, the SP held a protest in front of the Turkish Embassy in The Hague together with Turkish and Kurdish progressives living in the Netherlands. Tiny Kox, an SP senator and chairman of the leftist party-bloc in the Council of Europe: ‘It was an important protest today, because the people of Turkey deserve better. Human rights and the rule of law are being flouted in Turkey. Today, there were protests in dozens of places in the world, through which we showed our solidarity with the politicians facing prosecution in the Kobani-trial.’ 

The international pressure on Turkey is growing. Last week, the Council of Europe adopted a resolution stating that Selahattin Demirtas must be released from captivity immediately. Kox: ‘Now the European Union has the chance to show it is not merely guided by cold economic motive, but stands for the rule of law and democracy. She must increase the pressure on Turkey.’

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