Turkey: Situation and treatment of members of Kurdish political parties that have succeeded the People's Democracy Party (Halkin Demokrasi Partisi, HADEP), including the Peace and Democracy Party (Baris ve Demokrasi Partisi, BDP), and the Peoples' Democractic Party (Halklarin Demokratik Partisi, HDP); whether HADEP and other older acronyms are still in use (2011-2016)
1. Overview
Sources indicate that there have been a number of political parties representing the Kurdish movement in Turkey since 1990 (PHW 2015, 1493; Chair 20 May 2016). These parties include HADEP, the Democratic People's Party (Demokratik Halk Partisi, DEHAP), the Democratic Society Party (Demokratik Toplum Partisi, DTP), the BDP, and the HDP (PHW 2015, 1493). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Jalal Talabani Chair of Kurdish Political Studies at the University of Central Florida, a position dedicated to the study of Kurdish politics, explained that “many of these parties were eventually banned by the Turkish Constitutional Court, [while] others terminated themselves and merged into new parties” (Chair 20 May 2016). The same source stated that "[a]fter a Kurdish party was banned, its activities ceased and its supporters moved to another party. In some cases, this new party had already been established in anticipation of the ban" (ibid.).
The Chair explained that, as of May 2016, the Kurdish national movement is represented by two political parties: the HDP, which has elected members in parliament, and the Demokratik Bolgeler Partisi (DBP), which, since the March 2014 local elections, has controlled a large number of municipalities in the Kurdish-populated southeast (ibid.). He stated that the HDP and DBP parties "have identical ideological and policy positions" (ibid.). In 2014, the International Crisis Group stated that the BDP and HDP, as the latest parties of the Kurdish political movement, have "deep-rooted legitimacy among Kurds after withstanding death squad murders, long jailings of its leaders, harassment and numerous official closures of its predecessor parties over the past 25 years" (6 Nov. 2014, 14-15).
1.1 BDP
According to the Political Handbook of the World 2015 (PHW), the BDP was formed in 2008 as a successor to the DTP, which was formed in 2005 as a successor to DEHAP, which was a successor to HADEP (PHW 2015, 1493). The same source indicates that in March 2014, the BDP contested the March 2014 municipal elections in parallel with HDP; BDP candidates ran in Kurdish-dominated areas while the HDP ran in other areas of Turkey, and, in April 2014, the BDP joined with the HDP (ibid.). The Chair noted that the BDP is no longer a separate party (20 May 2016).
1.2 HDP
PHW indicates that the HDP was formed in October 2012 as a merger of 20 socialist parties (2015, 1493). Sources describe the HDP as a pro-Kurdish leftist party (Human Rights Watch 2016; Al Jazeera 1 June 2015; AI 10 Oct. 2015). According to the website of the HDP's representation in Europe, among its aims, the HDP "[r]ecognizes and fights for the right of Kurdish people to self[-]determination" and "seeks a peaceful, democratic solution to the Kurdish question based on equal rights and voluntary togetherness" (HDP n.d.). Other issues that the HDP advocates for include decentralized and local governance, gender equality, environmental protection, education, sensitivity to LGBTI individuals, social policies that promote workers, and the removal of obligatory military service (ibid.). According to Al Jazeera, the HDP aims to appeal to other minorities such as "secular and liberal voters" (1 June 2015).
Sources indicate that the HDP received 13 percent of the vote in the 7 June 2015 election and passed the 10 percent threshold to enter parliament (Human Rights Watch 2016; EU 10 Nov. 2015, 7). The HDP won 80 seats in the 550-seat parliament (ibid.; OSCE 23 Oct. 2015, 2). In August 2015, the President called for early parliamentary elections on 1 November 2015 (ibid.). The HDP won 10.7 percent of the vote and 59 seats in the 1 November 2015 election (BBC 2 Nov. 2015; Al-Monitor 2 Nov. 2015).
Sources indicate that the co-leaders of the HDP are Selahattin Demirtas (Hurriyet 10 Oct. 2015; Reuters 20 May 2016; International Crisis Group 6 Nov. 2014, 15; Green Left Weekly 3 Mar. 2016) and Figen Yüksekdag (ibid.). Demirtas was also the head of the BDP, elected in February 2010 (PHW 2015, 1493). According to Al Jazeera, Demirtas ran in the 2014 presidential elections and received 9.8 percent of the vote (1 June 2015).
The International Crisis Group indicates that the HDP is loyal to Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party [Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK], but operates within the Turkish political system (6 Nov. 2014, 15). According to Al Jazeera, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the HDP of being "supported by [PKK] terrorism" (1 June 2015).
2. Violence Against HDP Members
Sources report that there were "hundreds of attacks" on HDP offices surrounding the 2015 elections (Human Rights Watch 2016; Freedom House 2016). In a November 2015 report submitted to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Association for Monitoring Equal Rights (AMER), an Istanbul-based NGO that monitors discrimination and promotes human rights (AMER n.d.), recorded 12 attacks against HDP stands and HDP offices between May 2015 and September 2015, which occurred in Istanbul, Canakkale, Antalya, Mersin, Adana, Kocaeli, Alanya, Tekirdag, and Ankara (AMER and Istanbul-GöcDer 2 Nov. 2015, Annex 3, 5-8). According to the same source, the attacks included bombings, assaults, mob attacks, vandalism, a lynching attempt, and arson (ibid.). In the majority of cases, there were no records of anyone being indicted for the violence (ibid.). According to a report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the HDP indicated that there were 129 attacks on HDP offices between 6 September and 9 October 2015 (OSCE 23 Oct. 2015, 5).
Some examples of violence against the HDP reported by sources include the following:
- Human Rights Watch reports that there were two bombings of HDP offices prior to the June 2015 election (Human Rights Watch 2016). AMER similarly reports that, on 18 May 2015, there were bombings of HDP election offices in Mersin and Adana, which occurred at the same time; three people were injured in Adana (AMER and Istanbul-GöcDer 2 Nov. 2015, Annex 3, 5-6).
- On 5 June 2015, there was a bombing attack on an HDP election rally in Diyarbakir that killed four people (Human Rights Watch 2016; Hurriyet 10 Oct. 2015).
- On 20 July 2015, there was an attack against "pro-HDP activists" in the predominantly Kurdish town of Suruc, which killed 30 people (AFP 10 Oct. 2015). The attack was blamed on the Islamic State (IS) (ibid.).
- AMER reports that on 8 September 2015, there was an attack on the HDP headquarters in Ankara by a mob of 500-600 people, who broke into the building and set fire to it (AMER and Istanbul-GöcDer 2 Nov. 2015, Annex 3, 7-8). The same source reports that HDP members informed the police of the threats they received, but the police were not effective in preventing the break in and arson (ibid.). One person was taken into custody for the violence (ibid.).
- On 10 October 2016, there was a bombing in Ankara that killed at least 86 people (AI 10 Oct. 2015; Hurriyet 10 Oct. 2015) or 95 people (AFP 10 Oct. 2015), including HDP members (ibid.; Hurriyet 10 Oct. 2015). The bombing targeted a peace rally, organized by multiple groups, including the HDP (AFP 10 Oct. 2015; AI 10 Oct. 2015). Demirtas criticized the government for not conducting an effective investigation (Hurriyet 10 Oct. 2015).
3. Treatment of BDP and HDP Members by Authorities
Regarding the treatment of BDP and HDP members between 2011 and 2016, the Chair provided the following analysis:
The level of persecution experienced by the BDP and HDP members generally follows the evolution of the armed conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK insurgents. In periods of truce and negotiations, BDP/HDP politicians are less likely to experience harassment, detention, arrest, and mistreatment. A series of operations (called KCK operations), started in spring 2009, targeted many BDP members who were accused of being part of a scheme (KCK) controlled by the PKK leadership. A large number of politicians and activists were detained and later arrested. With the initiation of the so-called “peace process” in early 2013, these operations came to an end and many BDP members who had been arrested were released. However, the rekindling of the armed conflict in July 2015 brought a new wave of legal operations targeting HDP/DBP members including their arrests. There were also many allegations of mistreatment by security forces. (Chair 20 May 2016)
In 2011, Human Rights Watch reported that "hundreds" of BDP and former DTP members were in prison and being charged under terrorism laws for membership in the Union of Kurdistan Communities/Turkey assembly assembly (Koma Civakên Kurdistan/Türkiye Meclisi, KCK/TM), an "alleged front organization for the PKK," some of whom were in prolonged detention of up to two years (Human Rights Watch 18 Apr. 2011). Reporting on a the trial of 152 BPD/DTP members in Diyarbakir, Human Rights Watch states that there was little evidence that the defendants engaged in terrorist acts, as defined by international law, or that they received logistical or financial support from an outlawed group (ibid.).
According to a 2013 article by EurasiaNet, a website operated by the Eurasia Program of the Open Society Foundations that provides information and analysis about developments in Central Asia and the Caucasus (EurasiaNet n.d.), the BPD claims that over 6,000 of its members, including 33 mayors, were detained under "anti-terror laws" (EurasiaNet 16 Oct. 2013). The same source notes that the anti-terror laws, enacted in 1991 to counteract the PKK, are "broadly written" and have been used against peaceful protesters (ibid.). The European Commission states, in a 2013 report, that authorities have arrested and detained "many BDP-affiliated Kurdish politicians" on allegations of belonging to the KCK (EU 16 Oct. 2013, 9). In its 2013 annual report, reporting on events of 2012, Human Rights Watch indicates that "thousands" of people were charged under terrorism laws and were in pre-trial detention, most of whom were BPD officials and Kurdish activists being charged with belonging to the KCK (Human Rights Watch 2013).
Freedom House reports that after a ceasefire, initiated in March 2013 between the government and the PKK, failed in July 2015, officials accused the HDP of being a "proxy for the PKK," and Erdogan called for HDP elected officials with ties to the PKK to be prosecuted (Freedom House 2016).
The HDP indicated to OSCE/ODIHR that between 24 July and 9 October 2015, 2,308 HDP members were taken into custody and 542 were arrested (OSCE 23 Oct. 2015, 5). OSCE reports that some HDP members were charged with "defamation of public authorities, including insult of the president" (ibid.). According to Freedom House, between the June and November 2015 elections, approximately 500 HDP members and officials, including 20 mayors, were detained on terrorism charges (Freedom House 2016). According to Human Rights Watch, the Turkish government has "a track record of using over[ly]-broad terrorism laws to silence dissent, including by detaining and prosecuting peaceful Kurdish activists as though they were members of the outlawed PKK" (Human Rights Watch 30 July 2015).
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports that, on 1 May 2016, the police used tear gas against HDP members who staged a protest in the Bakirkoy area of Istanbul (AFP 1 May 2016).
Sources report that on 20 May 2016, the Turkish parliament voted to strip its members of parliamentary immunity from prosecution, which could lead to the prosecution of HDP members of parliament (Reuters 20 May 2016; Chair 20 May 2016; EurActiv 20 May 2016), and others who oppose Erdogan (ibid.). According to the Chair, 53 of 59 HDP members of parliament have legal cases against them and the revoking of parliamentary immunity means that they can now be subject to arrest and detention (Chair 20 May 2016).
4. Use of HADEP and Other Acronyms of Older Kurdish Political Parties
According to the Chair, despite the older Kurdish political parties no longer being active, older acronyms are still in use to refer to newer political parties (ibid.). He explained, "[i]n my travels and interactions, I have met with many people in Turkey who still use the acronym HADEP to refer to DTP or BDP. Since many parties were established and ceased to exist in the last 25 years, it is not surprising that people get confused" (ibid.). Further and corroborating information about the use of older acronyms could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
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_____. 10 October 2015. Fulya Ozerkan and Burak Akinci. "Toll from Twin Ankara Blasts Soars to 95." <http://reliefweb.int/report/turkey/least-86-dead-ankara-blasts-turkish-minister> [Accessed 26 May 2016]
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Reuters. 20 May 2016. "Turkish Parliament Strips MPs of Immunity in Blow to Kurdish Opposition." (Factiva)
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: associate professor of political science, San Francisco State University; former coordinator of International Relations Department, HADEP.
Internet sites, including: Council of Europe – European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance; ecoi.net; Factiva; The Guardian; International Federation for Human Rights; Minority Rights Group International; UN – Refworld; US – Department of State.