Turkish prosecutor seeks closure of opposition party

By Aylin Dal and Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's top prosecutor on Wednesday filed an indictment seeking dissolution of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), calling it an undemocratic party that colludes with the terrorist group PKK and seeks to destroy the unity of the state.

Bekir Sahin, the chief public prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, filed the indictment at the Constitutional Court, and it was sent to the Supreme Court, also called the Court of Cassation.

The indictment accuses HDP leaders and members of acting in a way that flouts the democratic and universal rules of law, colluding with the terrorist PKK and affiliated groups, and aiming to destroy and eliminate the indivisible integrity of the state with its country and nation.

The move follows growing calls by Turkish political leaders for the HDP to be officially closed down. In recent years, more and more HDP executives and elected officials have been charged with terrorism-related offenses.

Turkish leaders have long argued that the HDP is little more than a front group for the terrorist PKK.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin

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