ANKARA - Some European political party leaders and EP MPs called for solidarity with HDP before the Kobanê Trial starts.

 

The "Kobanê trial" will start in Ankara on 26 April. 108 politicians are accused of terrorist offenses in connection with the protests during the ISIS attack on Kobanê in October 2014. Among the defendants are former HDP chairmen Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, numerous other leading members of the party, 28 of whom are imprisoned. 

 

SOLIDARITY FROM EUROPE

 

There is international interest in the trial, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the monitoring in Ankara is difficult. The Kurdish Friendship Group and several party leaders in the European Parliament therefore invite people to decentralized expressions of solidarity and declare that support for the Kobanê resistance must not be criminalized: “It is with dismay that we observe the latest developments in Turkey with systematic repression against elected politicians and politically motivated proceedings against the HDP. The Turkish attorney general has ordered the detention of 108 people, including senior representatives of the HDP. In October 2014, the HDP called on people to support the legitimate popular protests for Kobanê. Now, years later, they are being held responsible for the violent clashes that broke out during the protests and, as a result, charged with terrorism. At that time, people demonstrated everywhere against the IS attack on the city of Kobanê and against the continued support of IS by the Turkish regime. The HDP has been calling for a parliamentary investigation for years to clarify the background to the violence, but President Erdogan's ruling AKP has always rejected this proposal."

 

Kurdish Friendship Group parliamentarians François Alfonsi (Greens / EFA), Andreas Schieder (S&D) and Nikolaj Villumsen (GUE / NGL) said: “We are resolutely against this violation of the rule of law. In a democracy it is unacceptable to hold elected representatives responsible for events the investigation of which is actively hindered. We call on the public, political parties and parliamentarians to investigate this matter further.

 

We stand in solidarity with the HDP, which is facing this systematic repression. We also say that the resistance in support of Kobanê must not be criminalized. Millions of people around the world have opposed ISIS on moral grounds, and we reject Erdogan's policy of criminalizing the Kobanê resistance. As the former co-chair of the HDP, Selahattin Demirtas, said: 'What really shakes Erdogan is not our people, who were brutally murdered, but the defeat of ISIS in Kobanê.'”

 

The deputies reminded that “the trial is scheduled to begin on 26 April 2021 and is being monitored by various political bodies. However, due to the COVID-19 measures, many people who would have liked to show political solidarity will not be able to travel to Turkey.

 

Therefore, we would like to point out an alternative option to all those who cannot travel. On 26 April 2021, we invite all organizations, parties, members of parliament, politicians and individuals to show their support with a solidarity campaign. All MPs can show their solidarity through various forms of action. A photo campaign will take place on that day at 3 pm in front of the European Parliament."

 

The Kurdish Friendship Group asked everyone who wants to express their solidarity to share their action with the press or via social networks and to make a statement using the following hashtags: #SolidarityWithHDP and #DefendKobani

 

The call for solidarity is supported by several European political parties and was signed by Heinz Bierbaum, (Chairman of the Party of the European Left), Evelyne Huytebroeck and Thomas Waitz, (Co-Chair of the European Green Party), Lorena Lopez de Lacalle, (Chair of the European Free Alliance) and Sergei Stanishev, (Chairman of the PES - Party of European Socialists).