Demirtaş should be kept in jail until he dies: Turkish far-right MP

MHP deputy Sermet Atay has said that former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş should be kept in jail until he dies. "He should rot in jail. His dead body should leave prison," Atay said.

Sunday November 07 2021 11:24 am

Duvar English

Far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Sermet Atay has given a hate-filled speech on Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), saying that he should be kept imprisoned until he dies.

"He should rot in jail," Atay said in a speech in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas on Nov. 5.

"His dead body should leave prison because this guy is an enemy of the state and the nation," the far-right lawmaker said.

Atay was commenting on main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's call to release Demirtaş when he made the spiteful remarks.

The former HDP co-chair has been imprisoned for five years on politically-motivated charges related to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Numerous European institutions, including the European Court of Human Rights, called for his release, but to no avail.

An ultranationalist party, the MHP is known for targeting the HDP over its pro-Kurdish agenda.