Selahattin Demirtaş Is Not a Terrorist
The former co-chair of Turkey’s leading leftist party has been imprisoned for more than two years. His incarceration is an attack on democratic rights — and a boon to right-wing tyrants everywhere.
A photograph of HDP’s nominated presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas who is currently in prison after being arrested in 2016 as part of a terror investigation is seen pinned to a supporters shirt at an election rally on May 4, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.Chris McGrath / Getty
On November 20, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a judgment in the case of Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the leftist, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP). The Turkish government, the ECHR insisted, should release Demirtaş immediately.
Less than two weeks later, a Turkish appeals court rebuffed the ECHR, unanimously upholding Demirtaş’s conviction for disseminating “terror propaganda.”
Turkey’s recalcitrant move was the latest blow to progressive forces in the country. The HDP has distinguished itself as a dogged opponent of the Recep Tayip Erdoğan’s autocratic government, uniting a mish-mash of leftists under the banner of peace and democracy.
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