The Party of European Socialists has issued a strong declaration calling for the release of political prisoners in Turkey, and naming 10 MPs currently detained in the country by the autocratic regime of Erdoğan. The MPs named in the resolution are members of PES associate member parties Halkların Demokratik Partisi (People’s Democratic Party, HDP) and […]
Category: communique
Invitation to join the Mayors for Mayors campaign
The crackdown on democratically elected Kurdish municipalities in Turkey has taken on an alarming dimension, undermining the whole notion of local democracy and contradicting all principles enshrined by international agreements on local governments. The ongoing crackdown has practically annulled the results of the March 2014 local elections; local democracy has been suspended. To this date: […]
The AKP-Erdoğan government is fully responsible for the European Parliament’s critical resolution on Turkey
The EP resolution of 6 July 2017 on the 2016 Commission Report on Turkey (2016/2308) was approved by 477 against 64 votes. The resolution calls on the EU Commission and the EU national governments “to formally suspend the accession negotiations with Turkey without delay if the constitutional reform package is implemented unchanged.” Emphasizing how the […]
Hunger Strikes in Turkish Prisons: Information Note
The hunger strike protests of political prisoners in Turkish penitentiary institutions have reached a critical point. The protest was initiated in Izmir Şakran High Security Prison on 15 February 2017 to draw attention to gross human rights violations and inhumane living conditions in prisons, the isolation on the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, and Erdoğan-AKP […]
Revocation of Yüksekdağ's parliamentary membership is unacceptable
The revocation of HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ’s membership in parliament as a fait accompli is unacceptable. The revoking of her position in parliament once again tramples the constitution, and it is an effort to give the government’s political decision the appearance of legality. The Erdoğan-AKP government is trying to overcome its own political deadlock as […]
Ongoing military operations and communications blackout in Kurdish village
What’s Happening in Kuruköy? We demand urgent information from reliable sources. For the last nine days, there has been no communication with the people in Kuruköy (Xereba Bava), a village in Turkey’s southeastern district of Nusaybin (Mardin province), that is under round-the-clock military curfew and has been cut off from electrical and telephone services in […]
HDP’s delegation – Meeting with Chancellor Merkel
A delegation consisting of our Vice Co-Chair and Bingöl MP Hişyar Özsoy, Group Deputy Chair İdris Baluken and Mardin MP Mithat Sancar met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at 9:30 pm this evening at the residence of the German Ambassador. The political situation and latest developments in Turkey and the region, oppressive acts against our […]
HDP MPs delegation – Talks with European officials during PACE sessions
A delegation comprised of HDP İzmir parliamentarian Ertuğrul Kürkçü, HDP Deputy Co-chair responsible for Foreign Relations Hişyar Özsoy, HDP İstanbul MP Filiz Kerestecioğlu and HDP European Council Representative Faik Yağızay had a series of meetings at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). HDP parliamentarians met with the Greek former Foreign Minister Dora […]
HDP MP Mr Garo Paylan suspended from Parliament for 3 Days
Mr Garo Paylan, an ethnically Armenian HDP MP for Istanbul, delivered a speech at the parliament during the talks on Constitutional amendments on 14 January 2017. In his speech Mr. Paylan stressed the importance of pluralism in the making of constitutions, citing examples from the late Ottoman period. Stating that chaos begins when pluralism at […]
HDP's statement on continued Attacks on our party offices
On 17 December 2016, a bomb attack killed 14, and wounded more than 50 unarmed Turkish soldiers in Kayseri. As in previous cases, the HDP condemned this attack in the strongest terms. Yet, we believe that there is an urgent need to go beyond statements of condemnation and take urgent political initiative to stop militaristic […]
HDP's Statement regarding ongoing police raids
Following the bomb attack this weekend in Istanbul, the Minister of Interior said ‘we will avenge’ the strike, and today the long-ongoing crackdown against our party has accelerated. In Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Mersin, Adana, Antep, Urfa, Hakkâri and Manisa, 216 party executives and members were detained in the early morning through raids on their houses. […]
French and German delegations visit HDP’s members
The senators from French parliament Cecile Duflot and Sergio Coronado, and the representatives from Embassy of France visited our Parliamentary Group. The delegation met our Vice Co-chair in charge of Foreign Affairs, Hişyar Özsoy, our Parliamentary Administrator adn Istanbul deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder, our deputies from Batman Ayşe Acar Başaran and Diyarbakır, Ziya Pir. The […]
13th International conference at the EP: “Turkey, The Kurds and the war in the Middle East”
Kariane WESTRHEIM, Chair of the EUTCC, University of Bergen, (Norway), Josef WEIDENHOLZER, MEP, Vice-President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament, (Austria) and Gabi ZIMMER, MEP, Chairwoman of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left Group (GUE/NGL) in the EP, (Germany) lauched the 13th annual conference of the […]
Nordic Delegation barred from visiting Demirtaş
A delegation of political party leaders from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark made a statement outside Edirne Prison where their request to visit (Demirtaş) was rejected. Here is their statements: Jonas Sjöstedt; the leader of Sweden Left Party: We consider HDP to be our sister party and to be the most important party for democratic […]
List of jails – HDP's Deputies
Edirne F Tipi – Edirne F Type Prison Mr. Selahattin Demirtaş – Co-chair of HDP and MP for Istanbul Mr. Abdullah Zeydan – MP for Hakkari Silivri 9 Nolu – Silivri Prison No:9 / İstanbul Ms. Leyla Birlik – MP for Şırnak Ms. Nursel Aydoğan – MP for Diyarbakır Selma Irmak – MP for Hakkari Sebahat Tuncel – Co-chair of […]
HDP's Statement on unlawful crackdown on Kurdish municipalities
Twelve municipalities in Diyarbakır are ordered to follow a new regulation that requires them to conduct many municipal activities with pre-authorization by district governors. The Turkish government’s unlawful crackdown on Kurdish municipalities continues. In addition to the arrest of about 40 co-mayors and the “trustees” appointed to 38 municipalities, 12 district municipalities in Diyarbakır are […]
PES delegation denied visit to HDP Co-chair Demirtaş in Edirne
A delegation from the Party of European Socialists (PES) intended to pay a visit to HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş at the prison of Edirne, in Edirne province. The delegation was prevented from entering the prison where the PES’s associate party co-president is held prisoner. The delegation made therewith a press conference during which Stanishev protested […]
HDP MPs meet EP President Schulz in Brussels
A delegation from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) held talks in the European Parliament in Brussels and spoke of the dimension Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s dictatorial practices have reached today. The delegation was made up of HDP deputies Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Faysal Sarıyıldız, Tuğba Hezer and HDP Representative for Europe, Eyüp Doru. Welcomed by the […]
HDP's Delegation meets chair of S&D at the EP
A HDP’s delegation composed of Eyyup Doru, HDP’s representative in Europe and HDP deputies Tuğba Hezer Öztürk and Faysal Sarıyıldız, had a meeting with the chairman of the political group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S & D) Gianni Pittella in the European Parliament today to discuss the current situation in Turkey […]
Messages of our imprisoned MPs, including co-chairs Mr. Demirtas and Ms. Yuksekdag.
Selahattin Demirtaş: I would first like to extend my warmest love and regards to all friends. Our unlawful arrest has merely added to the deep darkness our country is being dragged into every day. However, those who think that they can force us to surrender in this darkness should know very well that a single […]