HDP to request postponement of the closure case

People's Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Mithat Sancar said his party would again request that the decision in the HDP closure trial be postponed until after the elections. The case should not be discussed during the election process, he said.

"It is unacceptable to expose voters to such uncertainty, we will evaluate this with our lawyers after YSK (Supreme Election Board) announces the election calendar," Sancar said.

A prosecutor filed the case against the HDP in March 2021, seeking the ban over alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The HDP denies such links.

The Constitutional Court accepted the indictment against the HDP in June 2021 after a years-long crackdown under Erdogan's rule in which thousands of HDP members have been tried on mainly terrorism-related charges.

Aside from shutting the party down, the indictment also calls for 451 HDP members to be banned from politics for five years. It is unclear whether a final verdict could come before the elections.