Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Siirt MP Meral Danış Beştaş issued a statement about the prison sentence handed down on Saturday to Siirt Municipality co-mayor, Tuncer Bakırhan.

"The AKP alliance's dirty games continue without slowing down," Beştaş said, referring to the sentence of 8 years and 9 months for “membership to a terrorist organisation”, and 1 year, 3 months and 15 days for “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organisation”.

"The ruling AKP, - said Beştaş - interferes with the system of local governments, which is democracy implemented in the most direct way, through the appointment of trustees and punishes local administrators freely elected.”

Beştaş added: “Co-mayor Tuncer Bakirhan was the target of the AKP judiciary's non-juridical decisions. The activities of Bakırhan were those the people had mandated him to carry out.”

The HDP deputy recalled that “the co-mayor was punished for carrying out his duty as elected representative: he lived in and for the community, he provided funeral vehicles, participated in funeral ceremonies, participated in panels as moderator and made press statement. This is what he was punished for”.

The reality is, said Beştaş MP that “Bakırhan's name was not linked to any corruption, he did not abuse his duty, as it happens in other cities in Turkey. Yet the AKP ruled to punish the people of Siirt through the sentence of Bakırhan”.

At the same time, the target of this sentence, said Beştaş MP, is the HDP, that the AKP wants to destroy.

“On the one hand, HDP is targeted - said the HDP deputy - while on the other hand the judiciary is used to end the HDP. But this won’t happen - said Beştaş - because the HDP and our people will continue to stand upright and honorable as always in the face of all these dirty games”.

The sentence handed down to Bakırhan, said the Siirt MP “shows only that the current government is in a difficult situation. When the law resources are over, government crises appear, it is inevitable!"

Beştaş added that "the judiciary is under great pressure and has been compromising its independence and neutrality for a long time”.

Indeed she reminded that “thousands of judges have been dismissed, detained and arrested. However, the emancipation of country is achieved through democracy and law."

The HDP Siirt MP ended her statement by saying that “this sentence is not a legitimate decision and all necessary legal resources will be explored to counter it. Once again I demand the independence of the judiciary to be guaranteed and the government to withdraw from the judiciary”.