The top public prosecutor of the high court of appeals has filed a case with the constitutional court demanding the closure of our party on the same day that the government which, on the basis of political calculations and in violation of the law, stripped HDP member of parliament for Kocaeli Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu of his status as a deputy.

The AKP government has turned the judiciary into a subsidiary and partisan instrument which it is now using as a stick to design politics.

The court case to close our Party is a severe blow to our country’s democracy and law. This government has inscribed its name in history as a coupist government. With the case to close HDP, AKP has presented a gift to MHP congress through the judiciary and prosecutors have acted upon political instructions.

What we witness nowadays also indicates the profound helplessness the AKP-MHP bloc finds itself in. Not having been able to overpower HDP ideologically, politically or at the ballot box, they are now aiming to eliminate HDP from democratic politics by means of the judiciary. Their aggressiveness originates from their deep fear.

HDP is not just a party but also an idea. Millions have closed ranks around this idea. Millions of people will stand in defense of their political will and future.

As for the AKP-MHP rule, having lost its democratic legitimacy, it is trying to remain in power by means of mechanisms of force and repression. The AKP-MHP government must be fully aware of the fact that we will never submit, kneel or budge an inch from democratic politics no matter what they do. We will continue our democratic resistance through resolute struggle.

We invite all forces of democracy, the social and political opposition, and our people to joint struggle against this political coup d’etat, against the overt liquidation of law and democracy.

We have called an extraordinary meeting of the Central Executive Committee of our party. We will pull through this dark period leaning on our historical tradition of struggle. We are confident and determined. We are sure, we are definitely sure that we will win.

Pervin Buldan - Mithat Sancar
HDP Co-chairs
17 March 2021