Turkish Court Sends Indictment Seeking Ban of Pro-Kurdish Party back to Prosecutor

Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey March 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey March 21, 2021. (Reuters)
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Turkish Court Sends Indictment Seeking Ban of Pro-Kurdish Party back to Prosecutor

Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey March 21, 2021. (Reuters)
Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey March 21, 2021. (Reuters)

Turkey’s top court sent an indictment calling for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to be banned back to the prosecutor on procedural grounds, state-owned Anadolu Agency said on Wednesday.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the indictment had procedural omissions and returned it to the Court of Cassation, it said. The Court of Cassation can re-submit the indictment after completing the necessary details.

A top prosecutor filed the lawsuit earlier this month demanding a ban on the HDP for alleged ties to Kurdish militants, as well as a five-year political ban on more than 600 party members.

The prosecutor’s move was the culmination of a years-long crackdown on the HDP under which thousands of its members were tried on mainly terrorism charges.

The HDP, parliament’s third-largest party, denies links to terrorism and called the move a “political coup”. Party officials said they would re-group under a different name if banned, as previous Kurdish parties have done after being closed down as part of Turkey’s long history of party bans.

HDP co-leader Mithat Sancar said earlier on Wednesday the indictment was “an embarrassment in the name of the law and democracy”.

“This attack does not just target the HDP and us, it targets the destruction of the will of the Kurdish people through the HDP. At the same time, it aims to destroy what is left of democracy and the state of law in Turkey,” he said.

Turkey’s Western allies condemned the action to shut down the HDP. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party and its nationalist MHP allies, which have repeatedly called for the party to be closed down, defended the move.

They accused the HDP of ties to the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and European Union. It has fought an insurgency in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since 1984 in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.



Troops Kill 30 Militants Attempting to Sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan

Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025.  EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
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Troops Kill 30 Militants Attempting to Sneak into Pakistan from Afghanistan

Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025.  EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER
Police officers stand guard to secure a procession during the mourning month of Muharram in Karachi, Pakistan, 03 July 2025. EPA/SHAHZAIB AKBER

Pakistani security forces killed 30 militants who attempted to enter the country from Afghanistan, the military said Friday.

It said the members of the Pakistani Taliban were spotted overnight in the North Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the troops seized weapons, ammunition and explosives from the militants. The military's statement did not mention if there was a gunfight or other details of the operation.

The military alleged the militants were backed by India and asked the Afghan government to prevent the use of its territory by “foreign proxies” to attack Pakistan, The Associated Press reported.

There was no immediate comment from New Delhi. Pakistani authorities often accuse India of backing outlawed groups like the Baloch Liberation Army and Pakistani Taliban who commit violence in Pakistan. Such accusations have increased since a shooting in Indian-controlled Kashmir in April heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed nations.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for the successful operation.

Pakistani troops killed 54 insurgents in the same area in April.

Militant violence has surged in Pakistan in recent months, much of it blamed on the Pakistani Taliban. The group is separate from the Afghan Taliban but closely allied with them. Many of its leaders and fighters have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.