Emma-Lina Johansson, a member of the Malmö City Council representing Left Party, protested the AKP government’s seizure of HDP-run metropolitan municipalities of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van through the removal of elected co-mayors and appointment of governors as trustees to take over the administration of the municipalities. In a video message on Facebook, Johansson recalled that […]
Press conference at the European parliament in Strasbourg
A press conference was organized by the HDP ‘s european representation office in Strasbourg with the participation of Kati Piri (Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament , Vice-president), The Greens/EFA, Group and the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left. Sezai Temelli, co-president of the People’s […]
Lawyers: Demirtaş should immediately be released on probation
Our former co-chair Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş’s lawyers held a press conference regarding the September 18 hearing at the Grand Chamber of European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The statement reads as follows: Dear Members of the Press, As publicly known, Selahattin Demirtaş was arrested on November 4, 2016, together with 12 other HDP deputies, and for this unlawful, […]
European Parliament Members to Erdoğan: Accept local election results
46 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from different political parties and groups have sent an open letter to the President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The letter as follows: The elected officials are accused of spreading terrorist propaganda and financing terrorism. This accusation is false. So far the authorities have not presented any evidences for these claims. It […]
EH Bildu denounces the arrest of HDP elected representatives
Statement by EH Bildu regarding the removal of our co-mayors: Turkish interior minister launched on the 19th August a Police raid to arrest over 400 HDP’s municipal council members and employees, including the Municipal Co-chairs in Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van and will appoint unelected administrators to run the municipalities. We must note the overhelming support […]
PES: Erdogan is once again trying to hijack democracy
Statement by PES regarding the removal of our 3 co-mayors: The removal of three democratically elected majors is the latest signal that Erdogan is actively subverting democracy to maintain a grip on power, the Party of European Socialists said today. Yesterday authorities from the Turkish interior ministry appointed State Governors to replace the Kurdish mayors […]
Statement by the President of the Congress on the recent suspension of our mayors
Anders Knape, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, made the following statement: I express my grave concern about the decision of the Turkish authorities to suspend the elected mayors of three metropolitan cities in the south-east of the country, namely Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van, and to replace […]
Maja Kocijancic: Dismissals and detentions of local politicians and appointment of trustees seriously risk damaging local democracy
Statement by Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for EU’s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the suspensions of our mayors and detainment of hundreds of people in south-east Turkey: Turkish authorities have temporarily suspended the democratically elected mayors of Diyarbakir, Van and Mardin in south-east Turkey while hundreds of people have been detained as part of a […]
Trustees appointed to HDP Municipalities
The Erdogan regime is determined in maintaining its authoritarian and unlawful rule that has been targeting the Kurdish provinces for the last three years. Since the local elections of 31 March 2019, HDP municipalities have been under constant threats and attacks of Mr Erdogan-led AKP government and their ultra-nationalist MHP allies. These threats took on […]
Meeting with PACE President Liliane Maury Pasquier and the Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland
A delegation consisting of honorary president Ertuğrul Kürkçü, vice co-chair Hişyar Özsoy, Foreign Affairs Commission spokeswoman Feleknas Uca, Mardin MP Pero Dündar and HDP Strasbourg representative Faik Yağızay met with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe President Liliane Maury Pasquier and the Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, and discussed Leyla Güven’s […]