Turkey prosecutors throw ‘kitchen sink’ at pro-Kurdish MP over social media posts

A Turkish summary of the procedure to lift the immunity of 25 pro-Kurdish MPs before the Turkish parliament is now available. It contains allegations of “doing propaganda for a terrorist organization”, “being a member of an organization established to commit crimes” and “publicly inciting hatred and hostility”.

Among the accused parliamentarians is Garo Paylan, who represents the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) for the southeastern city of Diyarbakır.

Prosecutors are trying to use evidence to prove Paylan’s guilt, including addressing an imprisoned HDP co-chair as “Dear Selahattin Demirtaş”. Additional evidence supporting the prosecutor’s case includes Paylan’s response to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s appointment of a party supporter as head of Boğaziçi University, social media posts related to the 2013 nationwide protests in Gezi Park, and requests to the courts to to release the philanthropist Osman Kavala from prison.

The European Union and human rights groups have harshly criticized crackdown on political opposition in Turkey and a new social media law that increases the government’s control over the Internet. Social media giants like Facebook and Twitter now have to set up representative offices in Turkey in order to answer court inquiries or to impose heavy fines and restrictions on their bandwidth.

Paylan’s formal address to Demitaş and HDP politicians Figen Yüksekdağ and Leyla Güven was viewed as a criminal offense because she “praised the crime and the criminal”.

Erdoğan’s appointment of Melih Bulu as rector of Boğaziçi by a presidential decree in January sparked major student protests in Istanbul and other major cities. It also sparked widespread criticism from scholars and political opposition who accused Erdoğan of undermining the independence of the top university.

“They appointed a curator-rector at Boğaziçi University. A country’s future cannot be bright if its universities are not free! “Paylan said in another allegedly incriminating social media post. “This little reign will be short. When the time comes, the universities will again elect their rectors themselves. “

Kavala has spent more than three years in prison without conviction for terrorist crimes and has asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to release him. The European Union and the United States have also condemned his detention, stating that his rights to liberty had been violated.

“Osman Kavala faces the judge with a ‘sloppy’ charge today,” Paylan said. “The persecution that you have inflicted on him and his loved ones for three years is enough! Apologize to Osman Kavala and release him.”

Paylan denies all charges against him, saying prosecutors purposely expanded their court records because the evidence is incorrect.

“I have seen that there is no concrete evidence to support such grand claims. Because it’s such an empty file, they threw the sink on it, “he said.

Paylan said the charges against him were nothing more than an assassination attempt on a character.

“You are trying to create the perception with this bad report that there is a great crime. This is all out of fear of losing power. It is an effort to break the opposition bloc’s motivation to end the “one-man” regime, ”he said.

“Turkey should urgently return to the parliamentary system. I regard this legal summary as a provocation. “

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was re-elected with significantly expanded executive powers in 2018 after a nationwide referendum marked by the opposition’s allegations of election fraud. His political opponents accuse him of circumventing parliament through presidential decrees, undermining the independence of the judiciary and suppressing any resistance to his rule.

Paylan is also accused of instigating Kurdish protests seven years ago, in which 31 people died after security services intervened. He asked why the charges were now being brought against him and accused the judiciary of working at Erdoğan’s orders.

“Why did the judiciary wait seven years when there were so many” serious crimes “? Because an instruction came from the palace. The Ankara Attorney General works like a parliamentary appointed trustee. What has been done is a blow to Parliament and must be rejected. “

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