Investigation Against 2 More HDP MPs Due to ‘Funeral’

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

An investigation has been launched against the Batman MPs of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Feleknas Uca and Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki on charge of "propagandizing for a terrorist organization."

The Batman Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched the investigation on the ground that Uca and Tiryaki attended the funeral of the "Simko Kerboran" code named Devran Baysal, a member of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Baysal was killed in an armed conflict with the security forces in Turkey's southeastern province of Hakkari on July 8. Baysal was buried in the Asri Cemetery in Batman.

Feleknas Uca and Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki were elected as the Batman MPs of the HDP in the parliamentary elections on June 24, 2018.

About Feleknas Uca

Feleknas Uca, born on September 17, 1976, is a Yazidi politician active in Germany and Turkey.

From 1999 to 2009, she was member of the European Parliament from Germany, serving with Die Linke. Feleknas Uca was at one time the world's only Yazidi parliamentarian until the Iraqi legislature was elected in 2005.

In June and November 2015, she was elected as the HDP Diyarbakır MP. Uca has been the Batman MP of the HDP since June 24, 2018.

About Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki

Mehmet Rüştü Tiryaki is the 27th Term Batman MP of the HDP and a member of the National Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Commission of the parliament.

Born in the district of Sason in Turkey's southeastern province of Batman, Tiryaki graduated from a medical vocational high school and worked as a health officer for some time.

He studied at the Law School of Ankara University. He was also the attorney of the Education and Science Laborers' Union (Eğitim-Sen).

In 2015, he was HDP's representative to the Supreme Election Council (YSK). (AS/SD)