Top Turkish court rejects request to block Treasury aid paid to HDP

Turkey’s Constitutional Court has rejected the Court of Cassation’s request to block Treasury aid paid to the pro-Kurdish HDP over not entering the 2023 parliamentary elections. The HDP entered the elections under Green Left Party lists due to closure risk because of the case seeking a political ban on the party.

Monday June 19 2023 05:52 pm

HDP's logo and the building of the Constitutional Court (AYM) in the capital Ankara

Duvar English

Turkey's Constitutional Court (AYM) has rejected the request of the Court of Cassation, the highest court of appeals, to block the Treasury aid paid to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) over not entering the 2023 elections.

The Green Left Party (YSP) entered the elections as the backup party of the HDP due to the case seeking a political ban on the party.

Previously, the AYM on Jan. 5 ruled to block HDP’s bank accounts holding Treasury aid as it continued hearing a case seeking the party's closure over alleged militant ties upon the request of the Court of Cassation prosecutors. The AYM on March 9 lifted its previous ruling to block the HDP’s bank accounts.

After not entering the 2023 parliamentary elections, the Court of Cassation prosecutors once again demanded that more than 400 million liras Treasury aid paid to the HDP be blocked.

The AYM unanimously ruled that there was no need to make a ruling on the request.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Spokesperson Ömer Çelik criticized the AYM's decision and said it will "create weakness" in the fight against "terrorism."

Speaking after the AKP Central Decision and Executive Board meeting on June 19, Çelik said "The Constitutional Court does not make any assessment in the face of attitudes that abuse legitimate rights and waste resources towards terrorist propaganda. There is a one-sided point of view in their evaluations."

"With this decision, the Constitutional Court has made a decision that will create weakness in terms of measures to be taken against terrorism. This decision will create a weakness for democracy's reflexes to protect itself against terrorism," he added.

A prosecutor filed the case against the HDP in March 2021, seeking the ban over alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The HDP denies such links.

The Constitutional Court accepted the indictment against the HDP in June 2021 after a years-long crackdown under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's rule in which thousands of HDP members have been tried on mainly terrorism-related charges.