mis à jour le Jeudi 13 janvier 2022 à 18h21
The François MITTERRAND Prize created on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the May 10, 1981 victory was awarded to Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ former deputy and co-chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) imprisoned since 2016 in Turkey.
Presentation of the François MITTERRAND Prize
This prize aims to distinguish a personality or organization, French or foreign, who has been able to embody, express or peacefully concretize, through his actions, his work or his thought, the hope and the gathering of the "forces of youth, work and creation", to which François MITTERRAND referred in his declaration of May 10, 1981.
According to the press release from the François MITTERRAND Institute, "the jury, composed of various members of the Foundation's Board of Directors and outside personalities, met in the spring of 2021 to examine some twenty applications. In the end, it was the candidacy of Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ, deputy of the HDP, Peoples' Democratic Party, imprisoned in his country, Turkey, for "terrorist propaganda" since 2016, that was distinguished by the 14 members of the jury."
By awarding this prize to Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ "the François MITTERRAND Institute intends to salute the struggle of an exemplary personality who tirelessly seeks, at the cost today of his freedom, to peacefully bring together all progressive forces to practically defend democracy and minority rights, in Turkey as elsewhere in the world."
The jury, chaired by Louis MERMAZ, former minister, President of the National Assembly (1981-1986), was composed of Laure ADLER, essayist, journalist, radio and television producer, Marie ARENA, European deputy, president of the sub-committee on human rights of the European Parliament, Eric BENZEKRI, scriptwriter, Gilles CANDAR, historian, Pierre FAVIER, journalist, member of the IFM Board of Directors, Aurélie FILIPETTI, former minister, Jean GLAVANY, former minister, Pierre JOXE, former minister, Zarina KHAN, philosopher, actress, director, Laurence LISSAC, member of the IFM Board of Directors, Gilbert MITTERRAND, member of the IFM Board of Directors, Mazarine PINGEOT, member of the IFM Board of Directors and Thomas WIEDER, journalist.
The award ceremony took place on Tuesday, January 11 at the headquarters of the François MITTERRAND Institute. Mr. Hubert Védrine, President of the Institute, former Secretary General of the Elysée and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented the award to the representative of S. DEMİRTAŞ, MP Hişyar ÖZSOY, head of HDP's international relations. On this occasion, Mr. ÖZSOY read the following message sent by the winner from his prison in Edirne (former Adrinople, located in Thrace more than 1500 km from his city of Diyarbakir).
Message of Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ
Ladies, Gentlemen, Dear guests,
How proud I am to receive the award of the François MITTERRAND Institute, a historical name that I followed with great interest during my youth even though we lacked today's means of communication.
Like millions of Kurds, I know the value of this name through two MITTERRANDs, President François MITTERRAND and Mrs. Danielle MITTERRAND, and I would like to pay them a respectful tribute. This name is engraved in our memories because, in our eyes, it illustrates - and with what greatness! the European values.
As you know, despite the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, I cannot be with you, unfortunately. I am still detained in Edirne prison. But I know that with your support, and with our resistance, this profound injustice that flouts our shared values will one day come to an end.
This award was given to me, but I accept it on behalf of all HDP members who are in prison today. Once again, we express our deepest gratitude to you.
I greet you with affection, respect, and gratitude, hoping to meet you in better days.
Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ
Edirne Prison
About Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ
Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ
Born in 1973 into a Kurdish Zaza family, Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ grew up in Diyarbakir, among other places. The young man builds his political awareness, and then his commitments, in the struggle for human rights, noticing the oppression in Diyarbakir of the Kurds and their organizations. After becoming a lawyer, he was elected as a member of parliament in 2007, sitting under the DTP label, where he became chairman of the parliamentary group. The DTP is at that time associated with the PES, a European party of which the major European socialist, social democratic and labour parties are members.
The DTP was banned in 2009 by the Turkish authorities and transformed into the BDP. Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ, co-president from 2010 (the party adopting the principle of equal co-presidencies, one woman/one man) participates in the negotiation process between the Turkish authorities and the PKK. He wishes to take the democratic struggle of the Kurdish minority out of its ghetto and widen it to all the dominated bangs of Turkish society: women, youth, homosexuals, spiritual or ethnic minorities, trade union forces, in order to constitute a political force that brings together the forces of progress.
This process led to the creation in 2013 of the HDP (Peoples' Democratic Party), which intends to represent Turkish society in all its diversity, in an ecological perspective and respect for the environment after the mobilizations in Istanbul around the Taksim Gezi Park. Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ becomes its co-chairman. After the HDP's breakthrough in the June 2015 parliamentary elections, repression falls on the party and its leaders. Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ is imprisoned in 2016, sentenced in 2018 to four and a half years in prison for "terrorist propaganda."
On December 22, 2020, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey and called for the immediate release of Selahattin DEMİRTAŞ. The imprisoned deputy is the author of several books, including The Dawn, written in prison and published in 2018, which won the Montluc Resistance and Freedom Prize and the 2019 Lorientales Prize. Last November, a court sentenced Başak DEMİRTAŞ, wife of the opponent, to two and a half years in prison.
