Mass Arrests of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party in Turkey

On September 25, 2020, Turkish police issued arrest warrants for 82 leading members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on the charges of inciting public disorder and terroristic propaganda. Those detained include Ayhan Bilgen, the elected Kurdish mayor of the city of Kars (Qers in Kurdish). Of the 65 HDP mayors elected in the 2019 elections, 47 have now been replaced by government appointees, and some of those dismissed mayors have been imprisoned on “terrorism” charges. Additionally, Cihan Erdal, a PhD student at Carleton University who was visiting family and carrying out fieldwork, was detained.

The Turkish government has been cracking down on any sign of concrete political opposition with an iron fist. Press, media, unions, students, professors, and politicians have all been targeted. The HDP has been a special target over the years not only because of its primarily Kurdish electoral base, but also due to its politics emphasizing an alliance of workers and oppressed peoples, as well as its gender-egalitarian organization and practices. Hundreds of HDP members, including elected parliamentarians, the previous co-chairs of the Party, Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas, and co-mayors, have been imprisoned and many are facing long sentences. 

We condemn the attacks by the Turkish state on the Kurdish movement and the broader opposition. We urge all progressive forces to raise their voices against Turkish government’s ongoing crackdown against the opposition, and call for all democratic institutions in this country and around the world to stand with the Kurdish people and democratic forces in Turkey at large. We believe that the way to democratization in Turkey, North East Syria, and the region requires the pressuring of Turkey to release all political prisoners and to resume the peace negotiations with the representatives of the Kurdish movement. 

Emergency Committee for Rojava