Turkey unfreezes pro-Kurdish party’s bank accounts
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Turkey’s top court ruled on Thursday to unfreeze the bank accounts of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) that is accused by Turkey of links to terrorism.
The Constitutional Court reversed its own previous narrow ruling to block the HDP funds containing government aid, without giving any reasons.
On Jan. 5, the Court ruled in a narrow eight to seven split to freeze the HDP’s bank accounts.
Turkish newspapers reported that the HDP, the third-biggest bloc in the parliament, was due to receive 539 million Turkish liras (nearly $29 million) in treasury funding this year, though its members say their party’s only other source of revenue are voter donations.
Turkish state, headed by Justice and Development Party (AKP), had frozen the HDP’s accounts seeking to ban the party over alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a party branded as terrorist by Turkey, the US, and the European Union (EU).
The party, which won 11.7 percent of the vote in the 2018 parliamentary election, is not part of the main opposition alliance. But it has signaled it will support the bloc’s candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the presidential vote.
The HDP has abstained from siding either with the government or with the opposition in what could be a historic turning point for the country. Asked about it, HDP representatives argued that they reached out to both blocs, but had received no response. The HDP has been sidelined by the hyper-nationalistic rhetoric of the AKP and its junior coalition partner, the far-right MHP party. Since then, the HDP has been vocal about the government’s policies.
Neither the HDP nor the Turkish government has shown any immediate reaction to the ruling about the bank accounts.
It is unclear when the court will deliver its final ruling on the request to ban the party outright.