Support to the HDP from European MPs ahead of 'Kobanê trial'

When ISIS attacked Kobanê in 2014, there was a huge wave of solidarity around the world. Now in Turkey, 108 politicians will be put on trial on Monday. European MPs called for support.

The so-called "Kobanê trial" will open in Ankara on 26 April. 108 politicians are accused of terrorist offenses in connection with the protests during the ISIS attack on Kobanê in October 2014. Among the defendants are former HDP chairmen Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, numerous other leading members of the party, 28 of whom are imprisoned.

The HDP parliamentary group in the Turkish parliament has announced that it will take part in the first day of trial. The trial takes place in the Sincan prison complex, the duration cannot yet be foreseen. Of the detained defendants, only the politicians held in Sincan are expected to be present in the courtroom, including former HDP deputy and women's rights activist Ayla Akat. The other prisoners are to be connected via video from the respective prisons.

The indictment calls for all 108 accused to be sentenced to life imprisonment for “undermining the unity of the state and the whole of the country”. In addition to more than 2,500 people, a number of ministries, authorities and parties appear as co-plaintiffs in the proceedings, including the ministries of the Interior, Justice and Defense, the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Family, the central authority of the Turkish police, the Turkish Secret Service (MIT), the coalition parties AKP and MHP, the CHP and the Hezbollah-affiliated Hüda Par party. The co-plaintiffs are also said to participate in the negotiation via video link.

Solidarity from Europe

There is international interest in the trial, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the monitoring in Ankara is difficult. The Kurdish Friendship Group and several party leaders in the European Parliament therefore invite people to decentralized expressions of solidarity and declare that support for the Kobanê resistance must not be criminalized: “It is with dismay that we observe the latest developments in Turkey with systematic repression against elected politicians and politically motivated proceedings against the HDP. The Turkish attorney general has ordered the detention of 108 people, including senior representatives of the HDP. In October 2014, the HDP called on people to support the legitimate popular protests for Kobanê. Now, years later, they are being held responsible for the violent clashes that broke out during the protests and, as a result, charged with terrorism. At that time, people demonstrated everywhere against the IS attack on the city of Kobanê and against the continued support of IS by the Turkish regime. The HDP has been calling for a parliamentary investigation for years to clarify the background to the violence, but President Erdogan's ruling AKP has always rejected this proposal."

Kurdish Friendship Group parliamentarians François Alfonsi (Greens / EFA), Andreas Schieder (S&D) and Nikolaj Villumsen (GUE / NGL) said: “We are resolutely against this violation of the rule of law. In a democracy it is unacceptable to hold elected representatives responsible for events the investigation of which is actively hindered. We call on the public, political parties and parliamentarians to investigate this matter further.

We stand in solidarity with the HDP, which is facing this systematic repression. We also say that the resistance in support of Kobanê must not be criminalized. Millions of people around the world have opposed ISIS on moral grounds, and we reject Erdogan's policy of criminalizing the Kobanê resistance. As the former co-chair of the HDP, Selahattin Demirtas, said: 'What really shakes Erdogan is not our people, who were brutally murdered, but the defeat of ISIS in Kobanê.'”

The deputies reminded that “the trial is scheduled to begin on 26 April 2021 and is being monitored by various political bodies. However, due to the COVID-19 measures, many people who would have liked to show political solidarity will not be able to travel to Turkey.

Therefore, we would like to point out an alternative option to all those who cannot travel. On 26 April 2021, we invite all organizations, parties, members of parliament, politicians and individuals to show their support with a solidarity campaign. All MPs can show their solidarity through various forms of action. A photo campaign will take place on that day at 3 pm in front of the European Parliament."

The Kurdish Friendship Group asked everyone who wants to express their solidarity to share their action with the press or via social networks and to make a statement using the following hashtags: #SolidarityWithHDP and #DefendKobani

The call for solidarity is supported by several European political parties and was signed by Heinz Bierbaum, (Chairman of the Party of the European Left), Evelyne Huytebroeck and Thomas Waitz, (Co-Chair of the European Green Party), Lorena Lopez de Lacalle, (Chair of the European Free Alliance) and Sergei Stanishev, (Chairman of the PES - Party of European Socialists).