2 more opposition MPs to face terror charges in Turkey

By Aziz Aslan and Cemal Asan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Two more lawmakers of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party's (HDP) have been charged with terrorism-related offenses, a judicial source told Anadolu Agency Thursday.

Ziya Pir, HDP Diyarbakir deputy, was charged with being a member of a terrorist organization, making propaganda for a terror group and provoking people to commit hate crimes, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

The Diyarbakir province's public prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence from between nine and 23 years for Pir, especially for the deputy’s statements describing security forces' operations against the PKK/KCK terrorists as “massacre".

The indictment added that Pir had described the ditches dug up by the terrorist organization to prevent security forces from entering areas controlled by the PKK as an act of a “liberation struggle”. It also said Pir had asked people to support members of the terrorist organization. He also described the terrorist organization members as “guerillas” and “martyr guerillas”, it said.

Pir was detained on Nov. 4 in southeastern Turkey's Diyarbakir province as part of an anti-terrorism probe and was released later under judicial control.

Meanwhile, HDP’s Van Deputy Bedia Ozgokce Ertan was also charged with making propaganda for a terrorist organization, the judicial source added Thursday.

Van's public prosecutor was a seeking a prison sentence of up to five years for Ertan over her speech on March 5 that praised PKK's terrorist attacks and for making propaganda for the terror organization.

Also, the detained HDP Co-Chair, Selahattin Demirtas, has been charged with insulting Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, a judicial source said Wednesday.

An indictment by Ankara’s public prosecutor seeks two years and four months in prison for Selahattin Demirtas over his allegation that the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party would form a vote-fixing team led by Soylu to block the HDP from getting into parliament.

The indictment said that Demirtas’s allegation – made in May 2015, ahead of that June’s general elections – had exceeded the limits of freedom of expression and had intended to humiliate Soylu.

In addition, HDP Diyarbakir Deputy Nimetullah Erdogmus has been charged with spreading terrorist organization propaganda, the source said Wednesday.

Diyarbakir’s public prosecutor seeks prison sentence from one to five years for Erdogmus over his statements calling security forces' operations against PKK/KCK terrorist organization members "illegal".

Last month, 13 HDP lawmakers were arrested, and 10, including co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, remain in custody awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges.

The lawmakers face prosecution under anti-terrorism legislation after their parliamentary immunity was lifted earlier this year.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015, and has been responsible for the deaths of more than 1,100 security force members and civilians, including women and children.