Turkey: the pro-Kurdish party HDP deprived of subsidies

Turkey's Constitutional Court decided on Thursday (January 5th) to temporarily deprive the country's third party, the pro-Kurdish HDP, of public subsidies, a party spokesman told AFP.

Accused by the authorities of links with “

”, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) is also under threat of closure, less than six months before the presidential and legislative elections.

A decision could come Tuesday, January 10.

More than half a billion Turkish liras

According to the private Turkish channel NTV, 539 million Turkish liras ($28.7 million) in public aid was to be granted to the HDP this year, a third of which by January 10.

The decision to deprive the HDP of public subsidies was adopted by 8 votes in favor and 7 against, according to Turkish media.

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In his indictment, the public prosecutor in charge of the case affirmed that the main pro-Kurdish group is "

" linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed group described as "

" by Ankara and its Western allies.

A dozen pro-Kurdish parties in the sights of Ankara

The HDP has been under relentless repression since 2016, when its leader Selahattin Demirtas was arrested.

He was sentenced two years later to four and a half years in prison and many HDP leaders and supporters were also arrested.

The Turkish army launched a series of airstrikes at the end of November against positions of the PKK and other Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq and Syria.

Since the 1990s, nearly a dozen pro-Kurdish parties have been banned or have dissolved themselves before being suspended.

The HDP won 12% of the vote in the 2018 legislative elections, electing nearly 60 deputies.