Kobanê Davası’nda tutuklu siyasetçi Karaman: Kürtler hedef alınınca ateş serbest
E-Haberler
4 min read
Ankara 22nd Heavy Penal Court continues the Kobane Trial, which involves 108 individuals, including former Co-Chairs and Central Executive Board (MYK) members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), 18 of whom are currently in custody, who are being tried for their involvement in the protests against ISIS attacks on Kobane on October 6-8, 2014, in the courtroom at the Sincan Prison Campus.
The trial began with the identification of the defendants and continued with the defense statement of Zeynep Karaman, a former member of the HDP Central Executive Board (MYK) who is currently imprisoned. Karaman highlighted the injustices she experienced throughout the investigation process and responded to the charges against her. She emphasized that the activities of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) were being criminalized, stating, “The meetings were wiretapped. According to the allegations, I was one of the participants in these meetings. I have already explained in detail how the DTK is an institution established to develop democracy in Turkey. Going there and participating in their activities cannot be considered a crime. These are activities carried out for the benefit of society. In law, it is stated that ‘none of the activities conducted for the benefit of society can be considered a crime.’ The DTK has carried out legitimate activities.”
Karaman pointed out that wiretapping the DTK meetings was unlawful, stating, “The issue is not about obtaining permission. If the DTK’s activities were seen as a threat, they would have intervened long ago. Their address and bills are known. They are still carrying out their activities. The unity and integrity of the people have not been disrupted, nor has a piece been taken away from the state. This means that the prosecutor’s allegations have no basis.”
Referring to the delegation of the DTK, Karaman continued, “All DTK delegates are being accused of being guilty. All the activities carried out by the DTK were done in the presence of the press and the public. Everyone was invited to these activities. They also invited bureaucrats within the state and officials from the AKP. They discussed the Kurdish issue, women’s issues, and ecological issues. That’s why they invited people from all walks of life. Some have been sentenced, but there are also numerous acquittals. An example is Gurbet Kaçar among the delegates. She was tried but acquitted on the grounds that ‘being a DTK delegate is not a crime.’ If they did not consider the DTK’s activities legitimate, they wouldn’t have sent DTK Co-Chair Hatip Dicle to Imrali.”
“I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN DEMOCRATIC POLITICS FOR 20 YEARS”
Karaman stated that the prosecution, lacking concrete evidence to prove their allegations, filled the void with perception operations. She argued that the prosecutor’s perspective on the democratic sphere and the grounds on which they prepared the indictment are revealed on page 95 of the prosecution’s opinion. She said, “They are demonizing democratic politics and politicians. The term ‘legal-looking illegal’ also serves this purpose. Ultimately, the propaganda army of the government is pumping this perception into society using all available means. The same perception operations are also being carried out by the prosecutor based on my previous cases. They declare the democratic sphere as the scapegoat. In the past, the military produced excuses like ‘the democracy costume fits us well’ for the coups they carried out every ten years. The continuous existence of the coup mechanism depends on where the ruling powers stand.”
“In the end, the prosecutor has made us not subjects and says with their secret witnesses: ‘They cannot make a single decision on their own; they make all their decisions through those who participated in the DTK on behalf of the KCK.’ These allegations have been proven wrong many times already. In fact, all Kurdish democratic political space and actors are being deprived of their will and agency through this approach. They are both demonized and told that ‘you are nothing.’ This is a consciously developed approach. Does anyone say, ‘illegal organizations participated in CHP or AKP MYK meetings’? When it comes to Kurds, all bets are off. When we were elected, when we were elected to the Party Council (PM) and the Central Executive Board (MYK), these dates are officially documented. The state has put its seal on it. It’s as if I descended from the sky and came to the HDP MYK. My presence in politics did not begin with the HDP. I have been involved in democratic politics for 20 years.”
After Karaman’s defense statement, the hearing was adjourned.
