Kurdistan (Bakur), Turkey — March 2021
HDP, the third largest party in Turkey, risks a ban. Journalist Chris Den Hond made a report about this and was on the spot.
Opposition party HDP, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, has 55 of the 600 seats in the Parliament. The party is known as pro-Kurdish, but it is also popular among left-wing Turks. In the last elections, the party managed to attract six million voters.
The HDP has suffered a lot in recent years because of the Turkish repression. Leading HDP politicians were incarcerated, about 50 HDP mayors were removed from office, and 139 HDP members were arrested earlier this year in a major police operation.
This seems not sufficient for the Turkish policymakers. The HDP now risks a definite ban. The Turkish regime wants to silence this democratic party for good.
Chris Den Hond interviewed lawyer Emin Aktar in March. Mr. Aktar defended many cases against HDP politicians. E. Aktar himself was sentenced in January 2021 to 6 years and 3 months in prison for so-called “propaganda for a terrorist organization”. That process is ongoing and the lawyer is currently still at large.
Via this link you can review Chris Den Hond’s full report and interview.
