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Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) deputy leader Aysel Tuðluk and
the party's Diyarbakýr branch chief, Hilmi Aydoðdu, were charged on Tuesday
with praising the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its jailed
leader Abdullah Öcalan in a speech, each facing up to five years'
imprisonment.
In a speech in Diyarbakýr on Sept. 3 of this year, Tuðluk had said: “Close
to 4 million people said Mr. Öcalan could be a force behind a democratic
peace. This can't be ignored. We also take the PKK's declaration on a
democratic solution to the Kurdish problem seriously because we believe it
will serve finding a peaceful solution.”
The indictment also noted what Aydoðdu said. “The PKK's peace declaration,
which I believe is an opportunity for Turkey, needs to be taken seriously.
The demands voiced in this declaration are the same as the demands of many
nongovernmental organizations and intellectuals. That's why we want all who
support peace to back the declaration.”
According to the indictment the suspects had called on the Turkish
government to acknowledge the declaration released by a terrorist
organization. Tuðluk and DTP leader Ahmet Türk also appeared at the Ankara
Ninth Criminal Court on Tuesday for a pamphlet the DTP distributed on March
8, Women's Day, where they are accused of praising the PKK and Öcalan.
An Anatolia news agency report said Prosecutor Osman Nuri Yeðenoðlu told the
court that Öcalan was described in the pamphlet as an individual who had
made significant contributions to the peaceful solution of the Kurdish
problem. The prosecutor also said the pamphlet contained Kurdish
expressions, in contravention of the Political Parties Law, which bans use
of any language other than Turkish at political gatherings and meetings and
in released statements.