Turkey: Opposition MPs accused of instigating terror

By Serdar Acil and Tanju Ozkaya

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish prosecutors have submitted a summary of proceedings against nine opposition deputies, accusing them of being instigators of terrorism during the 2014 Kobani incidents.

The summary proposes the lifting of immunity of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) members. It was submitted to the Justice Ministry by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in capital Ankara, according to judicial sources on Friday.

The deputies are Garo Paylan, Huda Kaya, Sezai Temelli, Pero Dundar, Fatma Kurtulan, Serpil Kemalbay Pekgozegu, deputy chairpersons of the party’s parliamentary group; Meral Danis Bestas and Hakki Saruhan Oluc, along with co-leader Pervin Buldan, said the sources, speaking anonymously due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The move came after a Turkish penal court approved indictments early January for 108 defendants, including former HDP co-leaders Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas, as part of a probe into deadly 2014 terror incidents across the nation.

The indictments filed by the chief prosecutor’s office in Ankara demand 38 aggravated life sentences for the defendants, of whom 27 are in custody. Six have been released on bail and 75 are being actively sought by authorities.

- Kobani incidents

In 2014, encouraged by developments in northern Syria, the terrorist group PKK adopted a new strategy in Turkey and sought to weaken the Turkish state by disrupting its unity in an effort to gain territory in line with its separatist agenda.

On Oct. 6-8, 2014, PKK ringleaders and their supporters incited armed violence across the country, instructing militants, terrorists, and ideological supporters to take to the streets and rebel against the Turkish state under the pretext of a Daesh/ISIS attack on the Syrian border city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani).

HDP -- a party Turkey has said is linked to the terrorist PKK -- also made a statement calling on people to take to the streets in protest.

The call to protest led to violent events in 35 provinces and 96 districts, causing the deaths of 37 citizens -- including civilians distributing humanitarian aid during a Muslim holiday -- and injuries to 761 people, including 326 law enforcement officers.

The violence triggered material losses totaling billions of Turkish liras (millions of dollars) as nearly 200 schools were burned down, 268 public buildings were destroyed, and 1,731 houses and workplaces were looted or damaged.

In the face of the violence, the Turkish state took immediate action to reestablish public order.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.