Selahattin Demirtaş: I was born and compelled to be a politician

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) former Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, behind bars in Edirne Prison since November 2016, is one of the 451 HDP politicians who face a ban from politics as part of the closure case filed by the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation.

In the face of this request, Selahattin Demirtaş has written a petition of defense addressed to the Constitutional Court, the top court which is currently hearing the closure case filed against the HDP.

"The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation must be thinking that politics is nothing more than a seat, a position,  a rank and a party membership as it claims that it can make politics forbidden to me," Demirtaş has said in response to the possible ban.

Addressed to the Constitutional Court, the petition of Selahattin Demirtaş has been shared on Twitter by his spouse Başak Demirtaş.

Addressing the President and members of the top court, Selahattin Demirtaş has briefly written the following in his petition:

'It is more than a position and rank'

"My lawyers will submit the comprehensive legal defense as to the indictment to your Court. I just want to express my opinions in a few sentences.

"A 'Kurdish-Zaza', 'Muslim', 'veiled', 'poor' 'woman' gave birth to me. As all identities of my mom are seen as a problem in this geography, I was born and compelled to be a politician, just like the ones like me.

"The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation must be thinking that politics is nothing more than a seat, a position, a rank and a party membership as it claims that it can make politics forbidden to me.

"I have never had a seat or rank other than a white plastic chair in the cell of a high security prison where I have been held as a political captive for over five years.

'I am politician both inside and outside'

"But I can say it with ease that I am a politician inside just as much as I was a politician outside. Chairs ornamented with gold foils or palaces are not necessary for doing politics. What matters is not where you are but where and for whom your heart beats.

"My heart always beats with the aggrieved hearts of our poor and laboring people. And I know that our people's hearts beat with mine, too.

"This is the most important factor that lays the groundwork for me to do politics. If your Court will impose a political ban on me, I ask you to write the following as the last sentence of the ruling: 'We are imposing a political ban but we are not sure if it will work.'

"I wish that you hand down your ruling in such a way that it will contribute to Turkey's society and our common future and it will be a ruling that you can defend before history and people. I extend my respects."

CLICK - Constitutional Court accepts indictment seeking HDP's closure

The first indictment to close the HDP was returned by the Constitutional Court to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation on the anniversary of the last local elections on March 31. The reason for returning the indictment was that "it did not have legal characteristics."

With minor changes, the second indictment seeking the closure of the party was submitted to the top court on June 7 and having examined the indictment in the light of a report prepared by the rapporteur of the case, the Constitutional Court accepted the second indictment on June 21. (AÖ/SD)