Turkish prosecutor's office again calls for dissolution of pro-Kurdish HDP party

The Turkish Public Prosecutor's Office on Monday filed a complaint against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), the third most represented political force in Turkey's parliament, for maintaining links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered by Ankara to be a "terrorist organisation". The indictment also includes a new demand for the dissolution of the party.

The chief prosecutor of Turkey's Supreme Court, Bekir Şahin, submitted an 850-page document to the Constitutional Court demanding a ban on the party's activities and the political militancy of its 500 members, as well as a block on its accounts. In the report, Şahin alleges that the formation is "undemocratic", the Ottoman daily Hurriyet reported.

"Measures for the legalisation of political parties are implemented in all advanced democracies," Şahin said. The Turkish government argues that the HDP seeks to divide the state, a stance that goes against constitutional precepts. "The integrity of the country is a prerequisite of the Constitution", the prosecution argues, and "political parties must operate in accordance with these basic principles". 

The appeal is in the hands of the Constitutional Court, the only constitutional body with the power to dissolve political formations. Decisions in the high court are decided by a two-thirds majority among its 15 members, however, the procedure is lengthy and complex until the Court's final decision is reached. 

The appeal must be approved by Parliament and then processed by the Constitutional Court. In this part of the process, the President of the Constitutional Court, Zühtü Arslan, will appoint a rapporteur to prepare the first report on the case and submit it to the presidency. Once accepted by the latter, the indictment will be forwarded to the HDP and the formation will prepare its defence within a legal deadline provided by the Constitutional Court. 

After the preliminary defence, the formal trial between the parties will take place. The Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court will make an oral statement and HDP officials will make an oral defence. Throughout the trial, the rapporteur appointed by the president of the Constitutional Court will be responsible for collecting the progress of the case and distributing it to the 15 members of the high court to formally discuss the dissolution of the political force. Finally, the Constitutional Court's ruling will be sent to the HDP and published in the Ottoman Official Gazette.

This is the second request made by the Prosecutor's Office for the dissolution of the HDP. On 31 March, the Constitutional Court rejected a first request at first instance on the grounds of "problems in the petition procedure". The petition accused the pro-Kurdish formation of seeking the break-up and elimination of the indivisible unity of the Turkish state because of its alleged links to the PKK.

The spokesman for the ruling AKP, Ömer Çelik, said that the procedure "has started with the relevant changes" and the government is optimistic about the new appeal. If approved by the courts, the Peoples' Democratic Party would be dissolved and would lose its 55 seats - out of a total of 600 - in parliament, making it the third largest political force in the country.

The party, for its part, has strongly denied the accusations linking it to terrorist activities and called the appeal a "political coup". The HDP has denied any links with the PKK and has repeatedly condemned the armed struggle. In addition, party members have said they would regroup into a new political force, following the path set by other banned pro-Kurdish parties in the past. 

The government's persecution of the HDP has increased in intensity in recent months. The Ottoman authorities have dismissed dozens of Peoples' Democratic Party mayors and replaced them with state officials after accusing them of terrorist activities. In addition, deputies of the party have been arrested, including former co-chairman Selahattin Demirtas.

The cross-border dispute between the Turkish army and the PKK has also intensified in recent months with a significant increase in Turkish operations on Iraqi soil.