Turkey: Widespread anger over the arrest of a prominent Kurdish MP during his sit-in in Parliament

At dawn yesterday (Sunday), Turkish authorities arrested prominent pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party legislator Umar Faruk Cırcıolu from inside his sit-in in Parliament after spending 4 nights in a sit-in after he was stripped. his membership on the pretext of a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence on terrorism-related charges due to tweets on “Twitter.” He was released after receiving his testimony at the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the capital Ankara.
At the same time, Europe issued warnings to Ankara after its decision to withdraw from the European Council for the Protection of Women known as the “Istanbul Agreement”.
The Ankara Prosecutor’s Office said that Gergerlioglu was released, after 50 minutes it took him to give his testimony on another charge against him, as a document published by the HDP revealed that the investigation referred to chants in Parliament while he was moving. from the main hall to The meeting room of party representatives to start their sit-in last Wednesday was seen as promoting a terrorist organization (referring to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The document indicates that the song of “Long live the leader Apo” was heard, apparently in reference to Abdullah Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who has been imprisoned since 1999. He explained that in the framework of the new investigation, the police decided that Gergerlioglu “was continuing to act”. He represented the deputy (although he was terminated) and that, illegally, he did not leave a government building.
The Turkish police detained Gergerlioglu, a lawyer, human rights activist, member of the Human Rights Committee of the Turkish Parliament and representative of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in the western city of Kocaeli while on his way from his sitting in the meeting room of her party’s parliamentary group to perform ablution in preparation for the dawn prayer, as she was not allowed to change her clothes. Sleep. The HDP published a video clip of the arrest of its deputy in Parliament as he prepared for the dawn prayer.
The hashtag “People’s Deputy in Detention” was posted on Twitter in Turkey, after police forces arrested him in Mashhad, prompting many boos. Some 166,000 Turkish citizens have tweeted under the hashtag, to denounce what the government did against them and demand that it back off.
On the other hand, the deputy head of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Maher Onal, defended the police behavior and the detention of Gergerlioglu during the ablution for the dawn prayers, saying: “The Parliament’s rules of procedure are clear about this … We know that everyone will drop everything and say they’ve arrested him. He does ablutions ”.
The HDP, the third-largest party in the Turkish parliament, faces a crackdown that culminated on Wednesday, when the Attorney General of the Supreme Court of Appeals acted to shut it down on allegations that it was linked to “Kurdish workers,” accusations by that the party, which described the closing lawsuit presented to the court, denied it and the Supreme Constitutional Council defined it as a “political coup” against the will of the electorate.
The European Union and the United States condemned Gergerioglu’s removal from parliament and the government’s maneuver to shut down the HDP, while the Justice and Development Party led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which has a majority in parliament with the nationalists, defended this. He passed. . Thousands of Turkish Kurds gathered in Istanbul on Saturday in support of the HDP and denouncing attempts to shut it down.
The vice president of the Justice and Development Party, Maher Onal, said, in a television interview yesterday, that there is a deliberate confusion on the part of democratic peoples and other opposition parties between the political and the legal on the subject of the lawsuit that was filed. to shut down the party, and there is an attempt to politicize the issue and show the government as if it were exploiting the Judiciary as a tool of political oppression.

American and European condemnation

In another context, European Union leaders criticized Erdogan’s decision, on Saturday, to withdraw Turkey from the European Council Convention for the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence signed in Istanbul in 2011, known as the “Agreement of Istanbul “, which was ratified by Turkey. Parliament in 2012, describing the decision as “confusing and cause for concern”, and demanded that Erdogan reconsider the decision.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden described Turkey’s withdrawal from the international agreement as “deeply disappointing” and said yesterday that it is a step back in efforts to end violence against women. Biden added in a statement: “Countries must work to strengthen and renew their commitment to ending violence against women, not rejecting international agreements aimed at protecting women and holding violators accountable … This is one step. frustrating for the international movement to end. ” violence against women around the world. “
The convention provides for the prevention, prosecution and elimination of domestic violence and the promotion of equality. Erdogan decided to withdraw Turkey despite widespread anger in the country over the escalation of killings of women and their exposure to violence, harassment and rape, at an increasing rate in recent years.
Germany, France and the European Union expressed their displeasure with this decision, and this was the second time in four days that European leaders criticized Ankara on human rights issues, after the Turkish prosecution decided to close the HDP.
“We cannot help but express our deep regret and express our lack of understanding of the decision of the Turkish government, which risks endangering the protection and basic rights of women and girls in Turkey, and sends a dangerous message to everyone ”, said Josep Borrell. head of foreign policy of the European Union. Therefore, we cannot help but urge Turkey to reverse the decision. ‘
In turn, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who discussed with Erdogan the day before the decision, Turkey’s relations with the European Union before the convening of the Union summit on March 25, who will establish relations with Ankara, said: “Women deserve a strong legal framework that protects them.” All the parties signing the agreement ratify it.
France said that Turkey’s withdrawal represented a new reaction in terms of human rights, while Germany said that culture, religion or traditions cannot be an excuse to ignore violence against women.
Withdrawal from the deal was proposed last year amid a dispute over how to reduce domestic violence in Turkey, where murders of women have tripled in 10 years, and the matter sparked a split in Erdogan’s party and was rejected. for his daughter, who is a member of the board of directors of a women’s rights foundation in the country. However, conservative groups along with the National Movement Party, Erdogan’s partner in the “People’s Alliance”, lobbied for them to withdraw from the agreement on the grounds that it undermines the family structure, encourages women to file for divorce and eliminates discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, in contradiction with the traditions and morals of Turkish society.
Erdogan is counting on drawing conservative and nationalist votes in the 2023 presidential and parliamentary elections, and Turkey has witnessed widespread protests and rallies involving thousands of women and men across the country to protest Erdogan’s decision to withdraw from the agreement.