Invitation to Participate in the Petition for the Freedom of the Kobanê Case Prisoners
Dear comrades and colleagues,
We write to you with warm regards and a desire to strengthen international solidarity, which is the lifeblood of us all.
On May 16, 2024, the “Kobanê Case,” a politically motivated trial pursued by the Turkish government for eight years, concluded with severe prison sentences for the former co-chairs and leaders of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Along with the Gezi Trial, this case represents a new phase in the attacks on political freedoms and democratic rights in the country.
As the Solidarity Initiative for Figen Yüksekdağ, we have launched a petition demanding the freedom of Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş, and all the other leading HDP figures who have been imprisoned by the Turkish government for eight years, with a total sentence of 407 years, in an attempt to silence democratic opposition.
We kindly ask you to express your solidarity by signing this petition, either as an organization or as an individual. Your signature will make a significant contribution to protesting the injustice of the Kobanê Trial in the international arena. Please let us know as soon as possible if you would like to be among the signatories of this statement. The statement is scheduled to be published in September.
For further details, please visit our website.
With solidarity,
Solidarity Initiative for Figen Yüksekdağ
https://yuksekdagsolidarity.org/tr
About the Solidarity Initiative for Figen Yüksekdag
The Solidarity Initiative for Figen Yüksekdag is a response to the repressive measures of the Turkish state, which are particularly evident in the Kobanê show trial. This trial represents a large-scale attack on societal opposition in Turkey, especially targeting the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), which advocates for the free and equal coexistence of all peoples in Turkey.
With its success in the parliamentary elections on June 7, 2015, the HDP ended the AKP’s single-party rule, prompting a massive backlash from President Erdoğan. In the following years, a wave of repression ensued: thousands of HDP members were imprisoned, party buildings were attacked and destroyed, and dozens of members were murdered.
As part of this suppression, the HDP co-chairs and other leading party members were arrested on November 4, 2016. The Kobanê trial, which resulted in draconian sentences for key figures like Figen Yüksekdağ (30 years in prison) and Selahattin Demirtaş (43 years in prison), aims to permanently suppress the HDP and its political work.
Politically motivated trials like the Kobanê and Gezi trials, conducted without any legal basis, serve the purpose of stifling societal resistance and extinguishing the hope for freedom. We do not accept this.
For this reason, we have launched the Solidarity Initiative for Figen Yüksekdag. Her words, “The verdict in the Kobanê trial marks not the end, but a new beginning in our rightful democratic struggle and political freedom movement,” are a call to us to continue fighting for justice and freedom. The initiative bears her name as an expression of solidarity with a woman who received the maximum sentence in this case due to her political beliefs and identity as a Turkish socialist who shares the values of great humanity.
We do not recognize the Kobanê trial and the related verdicts. Our goal is to fight for the freedom of all prisoners detained in connection with the Kobanê trial and to build international solidarity.
We invite all people who stand for the equality and fraternity of peoples, for democracy, and for freedom, to support our work under the slogan “Freedom for the Kobanê Prisoners.”
Solidarity Initiative for Figen Yüksekdag
Petition:
Freedom for the Prisoners of the Kobanê Case!
On May 16, 2024, the protracted “Kobanê Case” in Turkey concluded with a immense verdict of 407 years in prison for former board members and leading figures of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including former co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, who have been detained since November 4, 2016. Those convicted in this trial stand as symbols of the relentless fight for equality, justice, and freedom in Turkey.
The resistance of the people of Kobanê against the brutal ISIS attack in October 2014 garnered global sympathy and political and practical support. Thanks to the heroic resistance of the Kurdish freedom fighters and international solidarity, Kobanê did not fall; instead, it marked the beginning of ISIS’s defeat. The HDP’s solidarity with the people of Kobanê and its call for support for this people is a completely democratic and legitimate right and cannot be used as a pretext for this trial.
The Kobanê Trial has clearly demonstrated that the judiciary in Turkey is not independent and has become an extension of political power. Ongoing bans against the HDP, arrests and suppression of democratic opposition, restrictions on assembly and demonstration rights, the isolation of prisoners and denial of their medical care, and media censorship are all manifestations of the multifaceted attack on democratic freedoms in Turkey. This is also evident in the non-implementation of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments, such as those in the cases of Yüksekdağ, Demirtaş, and Kavala.
We view the trials and lengthy sentences against the HDP’s leading figures as expressions of the Erdoğan dictatorship’s efforts to suppress democratic opposition. We express our solidarity with Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş, and all those convicted in this trial, who steadfastly stand against this injustice and for democracy and political freedom.
We demand the annulment of the sentences for the prisoners of the Kobanê show trial and the immediate release of Figen Yüksekdağ, Selahattin Demirtaş, Alp Altınörs, Ali Ürküt, Aynur Aşan, Bülent Parmaksız, Dilek Yağlı, Günay Kubilay, İsmail Şengül, Nazmi Gür, Pervin Oduncu, and Zeynep Ölbeci.
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Invitation to Participate in the Petition for the Freedom of the Kobanê Case Prisoners — بدون دیدگاه
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