Turkey: Prosecutor seeks 23 years for HDP spokesman

By Aziz Aslan

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) – A top opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) official is facing several terrorism-related charges under an indictment approved Thursday, according to a judicial source.

According to the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, the chief public prosecutor in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir is seeking a 23-year prison sentence for party spokesman Ayhan Bilgen.

The source said that the charges against Bilgen include being a member of an armed terrorist organization, incitement to commit crime, and violating the law on meetings and demonstrations.

Bilgen was remanded in custody on Jan. 31 as part of a terrorism probe in Diyarbakir.

The source added that Bilgen also faces charges related to allegedly spreading terrorist propaganda in comments made in October 2014, after Daesh militants entered the Syrian border town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Al-Arab.

That month, HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtas and other HDP figures urged residents to take to the streets. The ensuing week of violent demonstrations left dozens of people dead, including two police officers, and saw hundreds of people injured.

Last November, 13 HDP lawmakers were arrested and 10 of them, including Demirtas and fellow Co-Chair 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 in May 2016.

The government has accused the HDP of having links to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.