Peace in Kurdistan wrote an open letter to Dominic Raab MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Lisa Nandy MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on the trial of the HDP in Turkey.

The letter said: “What has become popularly known as the Kobanê case has opened in Turkey. This trial of elected Kurdish politicians and officials represents one of the biggest political trials in modern Turkish history. 

A total of 108 leading HDP political leaders, party officials and parliamentarians are facing multiple life sentences in a 3,350-page case file that indicts them on 38 counts of homicide.

The members of the HDP are being blamed, totally unfairly in our view, for the deaths of 37 protesters who were killed by Turkish security services and paramilitaries after the HDP called for street protests in response to the siege in October 2014 of the Kurdish-held city of Kobanê in northern Syria.”

Peace in Kurdistan added: “Kobanê, liberated by the Kurds who sought to run it along democratic lines, became a beacon of hope for Kurdish aspirations to live a free life. Kurds in Turkey wanted to stand in solidarity with their compatriots in Kobanê, who were waging a life and death battle against the murderous forces of ISIS (so-called Islamic State), whom the Kurds saw as backed by Ankara.

The current trial is viewed by Kurds as a political show trail and a cynical attempt to rewrite history from a Turkish nationalist perspective. It is the latest attempt by Turkey to deny the Kurdish people their legitimate rights and aspirations. It is a show trial because it seeks to make a public example of Kurdish political leaders and deny the legitimacy of their political demands.

There is a grave danger in this process in Turkey that this action will be interpreted by the country’s Kurdish population as indicating that their demands can never be achieved through democratic means.” 

Peace in Kurdistan also reminded that “former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas, already jailed since November 2016, faces an absurd 15,000-year sentence if found guilty of the charges now laid against him. Demirtas, a lawyer, is a former presidential candidate, an elected member of the Turkish Parliament and a popular figure among Kurds and others. His record shows him to be fully committed to the democratic process. Demirtas is a highly respected figure and an astute politician who could play a very constructive role in Turkey’s future.”

This trial, insisted Peace in Kurdistan, “sends completely the wrong message to Turkey’s Kurds who need to be brought into the political process, not further alienated from it. In this respect, the trial is a miscalculation on Turkey’s part and the outcome is likely to backfire. The Kurds should be offered solutions to their demands which are legitimate. Humiliating and punishing their popular political leaders will only send a message to them that nothing can really be achieved through the ballot box. This will add fuel to the fire of the historic discontent and grievances felt by the Kurds.

The continued denial by Turkey of Kurdish rights and its failure to address the legitimate grievances of the Kurdish population fuels a conflict that has cost thousands of lives and caused so much damage to the social and economic development of the country and ultimately threatens the stability of the region. We should all be deeply concerned about this.”

The letter further remarked: “The HDP has offered Kurds a means of redress through peaceful democratic means. The party’s leaders have given hope to the Kurdish people that their voice will be listened to by the country’s law makers. This is now being flouted.

The HDP politicians are punished for their democratic activities and for successfully representing the people who elected them. They have been removed from office and are now standing trial or already in prison. What kind of message does this send to the communities who chose the HDP to work on their behalf? Surely it can only indicate that the political process is closing its doors to them and shutting them out? What course of action will now be open to them?  

Peace in Kurdistan believes that the present mass trials of Kurdish politicians should be brought to an immediate end and all charges should be dropped.”

Peace in Kurdistan urged “the British Government to use its good offices and exert influence on its strategic ally Turkey to end the grotesque charades in the court room that have the potential to inflict huge damage on Turkish society and precipitate a renewed spiral of conflict and instability. 

Peace in Kurdistan awaits a response.”