GOT CLOSES PRO-KURDISH HADEP PARTY, OPENS CASE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001624 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/13/2008 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE SUBJECT: GOT CLOSES PRO-KURDISH HADEP PARTY, OPENS CASE AGAINST SUCCESSOR REF: A. ANKARA 1470 ¶B. ANKARA 1303 ¶C. ANKARA 972 ¶D. ADANA 68 ¶E. ADANA 44 ¶F. 02 ANKARA 8881 Classified by Deputy Polcouns Nicholas S. Kass; reasons 1.5 b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Turkey's highest court announced the closure of the pro-Kurdish HADEP party the same day a chief prosecutor opened a case to close the closely linked DEHAP party. HADEP is accused of aiding the PKK and other offenses; DEHAP is charged with actions against the democratic state and legal institutions. HADEP leaders and other Embassy contacts say the actions, timed for maximum impact, are part of a broader anti-Kurdish crackdown. The court closed HADEP despite recent reforms designed to raise the standard for such actions. End Summary. -------------- HADEP Closed, Successor Accused -------------- ¶2. (U) The Constitutional Court March 13 announced its decision to close the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) on charges of supporting the terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK aka KADEK) and committing separatist acts. The Court banned 46 HADEP members from participating in political activity for five years. Court Chairman Mustafa Bumin told reporters the case, filed in 1999, included evidence that HADEP had provided (unspecified) aid and assistance to the PKK. "We are talking about an act of terrorism; we are not only talking about some statements," he told reporters. The party was closed under Articles 68 and 69 of the Constitution, which prohibit parties from undermining the independence or unity of the State and allow for the closure of parties found in violation. ¶3. (C) Almost simultaneously, Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Sabih Kanadoglu filed a case with the Constitutional Court seeking the closure of the Democracy People's Party (DEHAP),which is closely linked to HADEP. Kanadoglu charged DEHAP with acts "contrary to the principles of a democratic republic" and with causing "loss of confidence in legal institutions." (Note: HADEP created DEHAP before the November elections as insurance against a possible pre-election closure of HADEP; several former HADEP leaders ran in the elections under the DEHAP banner. In the ;past, the GOT closed two of HADEP's predecessor parties. End note.) ¶4. (C) Ahmet Turan Demir, HADEP chairman, told Emboff the actions against HADEP and DEHAP constituted a politically motivated effort to crush pro-Kurdish expression and undermine democracy. Demir said the most damaging element is the banning of 46 HADEP leaders, a severe measure that will have a chilling effect across the political spectrum. "This is a dangerous situation. It will lead to the isolation of Turkey from the world," he said. Demir said HADEP will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. -------------- "Anti Kurdish, Anti-Democratic" Crackdown -------------- ¶5. (C) Contacts espousing widely divergent political philosophies expressed to us their concern about growing anti-Kurdish sentiments, among both the Turkish State and elements of the public, as a possible Iraq war looms. -- Baskin Oran, a noted scholar at Ankara University's prestigious Political Science Faculty and a specialist in minority issues, characterized to us the actions against HADEP/DEHAP as "horrifying, disastrous." Oran drew attention to what he called the suspicious timing of the legal actions, which come amid widespread Kurdish fears of a GOT crackdown in the Kurdish southeast in the event of war in Iraq (Reftels A-E). Elements of "the State," opposed to human rights reform and EU membership, deliberately timed the HADEP decision and the DEHAP case for maximum impact, he said. -- Two senior Kurdish politicians -- one Kurmanji- and one Zaza-speaker -- in the Islamist Saadet Party called our attention to a palpable rise in Turkish-Kurdish tensions. Both affiliated with the Naksibendi tarikat, they expressed concern that the Turkish State's zeal in repressing dissent in the Kurdish southeast will lead to a regional "anti-democratic" crackdown -- asserting that, even in Ankara, far from the fighting, Kurds will be "afraid to leave their homes" if the bombing starts. On March 12, Saadet kingmaker Oguzhan Asilturk told D/Polcouns that the Turkish State's "racist" attitude toward the Kurds is deeply rooted in the Kemalist State and has been an enduring socio-political reality since Ataturk's day. -- The human rights organization Mazlum Der, which focuses on both Islamic and Kurdish issues, released a statement decrying the decisions as: 1) an abandonment of democratic principals and a violation of the Constitution; and 2) a blow to Turkey's EU bid. -------------- Recent Reforms Failed to Protect HADEP -------------- ¶6. (U) Recent GOT reforms were designed to make it more difficult to close political parties. Parliament in January adopted legislation requiring a three-fifths majority of the 11-member Constitutional Court, rather than a simple majority, to close a party. The legislation also stipulated that parties could be closed only for reasons stated in the Constitution; previously, closures could also be based on the more broadly worded reasons cited in the Political Parties Law (Reftel F). The ruling AK Party, itself facing a closure case, strongly backed the legislation. In March, Parliament passed legislation giving the Constitutional Court the option of depriving a party of state funds rather than ordering closure. Bumin in September spoke out against a Supreme Election Board decision to ban two HADEP leaders and other prominent candidates from the November elections, publicly arguing that the decision would harm Turkey's relations with the EU. But Bumin on March 13 said HADEP's support for the PKK required the maximum sanction. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶7. (C) The timing of this crackdown on Kurdish political expression is no coincidence. As recently as December, we were told the HADEP closure case could not be completed until verdicts were issued in a number of other HADEP cases, a process that could "normally" be expected to take a couple of years or more to run its course. It is common practice for courts to hold the possibility of an adverse ruling as a sword of Damocles over an organization deemed suspicious -- the ongoing cases against AK's Prime Minister-Designate Erdogan are an example. PEARSON