The co-speaker of the Democratic Congress of the Peoples (HDK) in Ankara, Emek Başaraner, spoke about the increasing repression against the HDP and the threats of closing down the party. In an interview with ANF, she spoke in particular about the threats of stripping deputies of their immunity.

There is no legal basis for stripping deputies of their immunity

Başaraner said: "The demands to strip of their immunity HDP deputies have no legal basis. In addition, this is a request which affect not only us, but the opposition parties in general. One columnist exposed the absurdity of this controversy by asking if 'some prosecutors even have law degrees'. The allegations say that ‘there is no propaganda for a terrorist organization, but the potential for it'. The allegations also include tweets posted by HDP women under the slogan '8 March cannot be forbidden'. Such statements have already led to the arrests of women in recent years. Leyla Güven, who was arrested a few months ago, is charged, among other things, with talking about 'matriarchal forms of society' in one of her speeches. This is a completely new criminal offense."

HDP voters are politically aware

Başarener thinks that these allegations are a sign of the pressure the regime is under. She explains: “On the one hand, the regime does not manage to achieve what it wants with its foreign policy. On the other hand, there is talk of constitutional reform. The system tries to present itself as the guardian of rights, but inside it is simply empty. He takes one step forward and one step back. The regime wants to prevent the HDP from playing its key role at all costs, which is why it wants to effectively eliminate it. But it doesn't know how. Whether the HDP is banned or not, the decisive aspect is the approximately six million HDP voters. These voters are the most conscious, political and determined voters in the entire country. The government itself knows that it would just be a dream to believe that these voters would just disappear. Therefore, they try to control developments by force. The use of force has become a habit for the regime, but resistance to the regime has become a habit for six million HDP voters."

You cannot destroy the fight

The co-chair of the HDK finally talked about the importance of the persecution of the HDP: “We cannot see it as just the criminalization of one party. The new life model and its defenders are under attack. The representatives of the current order cannot bear to see representatives of a new life model in parliament, institutions and other places that they consider their property. However, they cannot destroy a mighty struggle that has been going on for decades. With the closure of the HDP they can take some weapons away from us, but we will continue fighting for whatever we believe is legitimate. As HDK we will support this fight with all our resources."