Indictments against me plot by Gülen network members: Ex-HDP co-chair Demirtaş

Jailed former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş pointed out Gülen network during a trial in Ankara, while his pro-Kurdish HDP party is seeking a fresh start with Erdoğan's AKP government
Wednesday, 11 April 2018 20:28

Jailed former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said on Wednesday that all summary of proceedings prepared against him were a plot by members of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen's network, during a trial in Ankara.

On 15 July 2016, Gülen network, referred to as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) by Ankara, attempted to topple down Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by a military coup but it failed. 

Stressing that a number of cases were already previously dropped for the FETÖ-linked members’ involvement in the judiciary process, Demirtaş said: “Today, some 85 percent of the judges who handed down a decision to wiretap me are imprisoned [on FETÖ charges]. The court should not accept these evidence [against me] that have been produced by FETÖ-linked judges and prosecutors.”

Demirtaş pointed out Gülen network while his pro-Kurdish HDP party is seeking a fresh start with Erdoğan's AKP government. 

HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan left the door open to a possible alliance between HDP and AKP. "I cannot say anything about what will be in the future. The upcoming process will primarily focus on the removal of blocked political channels," she told Sputnik Radio in February. 

In an interview with Reuters news agency, Buldan said they want to revive a so-called 'solution process' that collapsed three years ago, what she calls "a turning point for Turkey".

There are several investigations against Demirtaş but this case -- where he is accused of links to the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- is the most serious.

Demirtaş has been behind bars since November 2016, detained on terrorism charges, and faces a possible 142-year prison sentence.

“There were such plots against me that made it look like I was in contact with the executives of the PKK. All the phone records [of me] are the ones that I held with official party authorities. Up until now, no order has ever come to me from PKK executives. If they ever did, I would not have accepted,” Demirtaş said.