‘MHP Chair Bahçeli commits a Constitutional crime’

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Group Deputy Chair Saruhan Oluç held a press conference at the Parliament yesterday (January 14).

Addressing the current issues on Turkey's and the party's agenda, Oluç said, "Today, I would actually like to talk about the debates on closing the HDP. Both in visual and printed press, over-closure cases are debated in the absence of representatives from the HDP. I would like to share our opinions about this issue with those who discuss it without asking our opinions."

Approaching the issue from a legal perspective, Oluç noted that the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) of Devlet Bahçeli, who is most fiercely demanding the closure of the party, is a member of the People's Alliance, together with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP):

"Today, the People's Alliance is in power in Turkey. The AKP and MHP form the People's Alliance. If some part of the government or the government as a whole is making efforts to close a political party by using its power and by consolidating the government's pressure and its domination on the judiciary, then it means that the Article 138 of the Constitution is openly violated."

'It is against the Article 138 of Constitution'

Noting that MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli commits a Constitutional crime with his statements and openly violates the Article 138 of the Constitution, Oluç reminded the public about what the related article says:

"No organ, authority, office or individual may give orders or instructions to courts or judges relating to the exercise of judicial power, send them circulars, or make recommendations or suggestions."

Oluç said, "The Article 138 of the Constitution is violated by the MHP leader. A Constitutional crime is being committed here. He is in power and he is trying to get results by putting the judiciary under pressure. He is threatening the judiciary. He says, 'If the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office does not do the necessary, we will make an application.' In other words, he says, 'Do what is necessary as soon as possible.' This is an open instruction.

"He also commits another crime: The Article 288 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) says that 'Any person who ... makes a public statement, oral or written, with the aim of unlawfully influencing a public prosecutor, judge, court, expert witness or witness to cause them to render an unlawful decision or perform an unlawful action or give false statement' commits a crime.

"What does MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli do? He says that the indictment filed into October 6-8 [Kobane protests] is enough to close the HDP. In other words, even the first hearing has not been held yet, but Bahçeli is trying to put pressure on the court. He says, 'Give a judgement.' This indictment into October 6-8 is apparently an indictment of political plot induced by the MHP."

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'It means "we cannot deal with the HDP"'

Further in his statement, HDP's Oluç addressed the MHP and AKP as follows: "When you file an over-closure case against the HDP, do you know what it will come to mean? It will mean saying, 'We cannot deal with the HDP.' It will mean that you say before your voters and people, 'We cannot deal with the HDP, we cannot deal with the political struggle.'

"You will achieve nothing. Because no matter what you do, you want to 'exclude the HDP from the political equation and remain in power.' But let me tell you this quite openly and clearly: We will keep on being the main power that determines the political balances and results."

'HDP's votes will increase to 10 million'

Concluding his remarks, Oluç briefly added: "If you close the HDP or not, we will not come to a point any different from where we stand today. If you act like this, 6 million voters will become 10 million voters.

"Our voters, enraged by this unlawfulness, will call the government that took a step to close the HDP to account with determination. Our voters, even if you put all of us in prison, will heed what our party say and act accordingly. They will never stay silent in the face of this unlawfulness.

HDP is not a shop, it is a mass popular movement; HDP represents almost 20 million people, with its over 6 million voters and their families." (DŞ/SD)