Kobanî trial | ‘Women targeted again in the person of Deniz Poyraz’

* Drawing: Ercan Altuntaş

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The sixth session of the third hearing of the Kobanî trial was held at the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court today (June 21).

CLICK - Kobanî trial: Request for recusal rejected

In the trial over the "October 6-8, 2014 Kobanî protests", 108 people have been facing charges: While 24 people, including former Co-Chairs, Central Executive Board members and executives of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), have been arrested pending trial, 10 defendants have been released with judicial control measures and there are warrants against 75 people.

The defendants of the case which is commonly known as the "Kobanî trial" face life sentences aggravated for 38 times.

'No information other than witness statements'

The sixth session of the third hearing was once again held in the Sincan Prison Campus Courtroom in the capital city of Ankara.

Following the identity check, Nezir Çakan, an arrested defendant, made defense. Çakan requested his release.

Nezir Çakan's attorney Şeyhmus Baykan indicated that the witness statements were contradictory, underlining that "there was no information in the indictment except for the witness statements."

'Attempt to criminalize politics in legal sphere'

Following Çakan's and his attorney's statements, Ayla Akat Ata, a former HDP MP and a former spokesperson for the Free Women's Movement (TJA), took the floor. Akat Ata started her speech by remembering Deniz Poyraz, who was killed in the armed attack against the HDP İzmir office.

The arrested politician briefly stated the following:

"Then, we saw that the defendant was arrested a day later. After the Kobanî incidents, we were held in detention for 8 days. During this period of detention, no interrogation was conducted, except for 6 hours; but we were still held in detention for 8 days. They wanted to create perception with this. The perception of 'We have carried out an operation against the HDP'...

"But the failure to start the trial at the phase of investigation so that the organizers behind it can be disclosed makes us worried."

Underlining that "a woman has once again become a target", Ayla Akat Ata also referred to the meeting that they held with Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), while she was a member of the İmralı delegation at the time of resolution process:

"Öcalan warned us: Everyone who is a part of this process, including me, is a target. There was the Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT); he is a target as well.'

"The massacre of Deniz Poyraz is similar to the massacre of 3 Kurdish politician women in Paris on January 9, 2013.

"The underlying reason is not independent of the discriminatory speeches of politics. [Interior Minister] Soylu says, 'The PKK is a women's movement.' By making a statement of 'HDPKK' [a fabricated abbreviation of the HDP and PKK], he criminalizes politics in the legal sphere.

"The explanation for this is the following: The one who fired bullets at Deniz Poyraz... Every bullet fired till now is fired at women. Women have been targeted once again in the person of Deniz Poyraz.

"This situation is not independent of the language and political attitude of the political power holders. These attacks are not individual murders. Every bullet fired at us has a plan and motive."

'A free and equal life for everyone'

Further in her statement, Ayla Akat Ata stated, "There is a road map that determines where the Kurds must look. And, this map is a democratic, peaceful, free and equal life for everyone. Today, not only Kurdish politicians, but the friends of Kurds who defend a free and equal life and struggle for this end in Turkey have been brought before the judge."

She added, "The reason why we are here today is because we exercise our Constitutional right to do politics. The equal and free citizens of this country have the right to do politics. If Kurds are also the citizens of this country, then, this applies to them as well."

Noting that "they also expressed their requests for democratic autonomy at the Parliament", Akat Ata briefly stated, "There are peoples like Turkmens and Azeris who have been living in this land together with us. If there is to be autonomy, it must be the case for everyone."

The hearing will continue tomorrow morning.

From the Kobanî indictment

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office prepared an indictment regarding the Kobanî protests that took place on October 6-8, 2014.

108 people, including the arrested former Co-Chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş, were among the "suspects".

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), the indictment demanded the penalization of all suspects on charges of "disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state", "killing for 37 times, "attempted killing for 31 times", "burning the flag" and "violating the Law on Protecting Atatürk."

Prepared by the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the indictment was sent to the Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court. The court accepted the indictment on January 7, 2021.

Here are the names of all defendants: Figen Yüksekdağ, Sebahat Tuncel, Selahattin Demirtaş, Selma Irmak, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Gülfer Akkaya, Gülser Yıldırım, Gültan Kışanak, Ahmet Türk, Ali Ürküt, Alp Altınörs, Altan Tan, Ayhan Bilgen, Nazmi Gür, Ayla Akat Ata, Aysel Tuğluk, İbrahim Binici, Ayşe Yağcı, Nezir Çakan, Pervin Oduncu, Meryem Adıbelli, Mesut Bağcık, Bircan Yorulmaz, Bülent Barmaksız, Can Memiş, Cihan Erdal, Berfin Özgü Köse, Günay Kubilay, Dilek Yağlı, Emine Ayna, Emine Beyza Üstün, Mehmet Hatip Dicle, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Yurdusev Özsökmenler, Arife Köse, Ayfer Kordu, Aynur Aşan, Ayşe Tonğuç, Azime Yılmaz, Bayram Yılmaz, Bergüzar Dumlu, Cemil Bayık, Ceylan Bağrıyanık, Cihan Ekin, Demir Çelik, Duran Kalkan, Elif Yıldırım, Emine Tekas, Emine Temel, Emrullah Cin, Engin Karaaslan, Enver Güngör, Ercan Arslan, Fatma Şenpınar, Fehman Hüseyin, Ferhat Aksu, Filis Arslan, Filiz Duman, Gönül Tepe, Gülseren Törün, Gülten Alataş, Gülüşan Eksen, Gülüzar Tural, Güzel İmecik, Hacire Ateş, Hatice Altınışık, Hülya Oran, İsmail Özden, İsmail Şengül, Kamuran Yüksek, Layika Gültekin, Leyla Söğüt Aydeniz, Mahmut Dora, Mazhar Öztürk, Mazlum Tekdağ, Abdulselam Demirkıran, Mehmet Taş, Mehmet Tören, Menafi Bayazit, Mızgın Arı, Murat Karayılan, Mustafa Karasu, Muzaffer Ayata, Nazlı Taşpınar, Neşe Baltaş, Nihal Ay, Nuriye Kesbir, Remzi Kartal, Rıza Altun, Ruken Karagöz, Sabiha Onar, Sabri Ok, Salih Akdoğan, Salih Müslüm Muhammed, Salman Kurtulan, Sara Aktaş, Sibel Akdeniz, Şenay Oruç, Ünal Ahmet Çelen, Yahya Figan, Yasemin Becerekli, Yusuf Koyuncu, Yüksel Baran, Zeki Çelik, Zeynep Karaman, Zeynep Ölbeci, Zübeyir Aydar.

About Kobanî protests

Before the protests held to support Kobanî in northern Syria in 2014, those who were waiting in the district of Suruç, Urfa in southeastern Turkey and wanted to cross the border were intervened with pepper gas and rubber bullets. In the meantime, some pictures allegedly showing ISIS militia crossing the border of Turkey were published.

President and ruling AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements indicating that they equated PKK with ISIS. While the wounded coming from Kobanî were kept waiting on the border, the wounded from ISIS were treated at hospitals. Several news reports were reported in the press, saying "Kobanî fell." These news reports were denied every time.

After the HDP made a call to take to the streets against a possible massacre in Kobanî, thousands of people protested in Kurdish-majority provinces as well as Ankara and İstanbul. While left parties also supported these protests, deaths also occurred with the onset of police violence. Street conflicts ensued. 42 people lost their lives from October 6 to 12, 2014.

According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), 46 people died, 682 people were wounded and 323 people were arrested in the protests held between September 7 and 12, 2014. As reported by the AA, 31 people lost their lives, 221 citizens and 139 police officers were wounded.

(AS/SD)

6TH SESSION OF 3RD HEARING