The Constitutional Court of Türkiye (AYM) on Thursday removed the temporary suspension of state funding for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), a party Ankara says has links to the PKK terrorist group, as part of the ongoing lawsuit for the closure of the party.

The court voted by a majority to reinstate government funds for the party, with a little over two months until Türkiye’s presidential and parliamentary elections, after blocking all monetary help early in January upon Bekir Şahin’s, the prosecutor of the closure case, urgent demand to block the party’s accounts.

Şahin’s request had been on grounds of the party having "organic ties" to the PKK terrorist organization and using the funds in line with the aims of the group.

Over the past two months, the court had been reevaluating its decision on whether the suspension would hold upon an objection from the HDP.

The HDP has been facing a shutdown of its activities since 2021 when Şahin, also the chief public prosecutor of the Supreme Court, launched a lawsuit accusing party leaders and members of acting in a way that defies the democratic and universal rules of law, colluding with the PKK and affiliated groups, and aiming to destroy and eliminate the indivisible integrity of the state with its country and nation.

Şahin has consistently called for the party to be banned from all state financial support and a political ban on its members, including former leaders, arguing that "the entire nation" was aware of the HDP's link to the PKK, and that the HDP "cannot be considered a separate entity from the PKK."

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization in Türkiye, along with the United States and the European Union.

Şahin made his final case for the party’s closure on Jan. 10, informing that his office presented all evidence regarding the "defendant party's role against the integrity of the country and nation," referring to PKK's so-called separatist agenda. "Nobody heard that members of the defendant party condemned the PKK and its administrators describe it as an armed public movement," he said.

The HDP was scheduled to present a defense on March 14 but the court, upon the party’s request for additional time, postponed the hearing until April 11, roughly a month ahead of the widely anticipated May 14 vote.

Once the HDP’s defense is submitted, all 15 members of the court will reach a conclusion following a series of assessments on whether the party will be shut down as per the circumstances listed in Article 69 of the Constitution or stripped entirely or partially of government funding. A verdict is only possible if two-thirds of the court members, i.e., 10 of them, reach a majority vote.

Should the Constitutional Court rule to close the HDP, persons facing the verdict will not be permitted to be founders, members, directors and supervisors of another party for five years.

The party previously appealed to the court to adjourn the ban case until after the elections, only to be unanimously rejected.

The tight schedule could mean a final verdict could be delayed until after the elections, which would brew further uncertainty for Parliament’s third-biggest party.

The HDP is generally blamed for becoming the focal point of actions in violation of the Turkish state’s "unbreakable unity" and having an "active role in providing personnel to the PKK."

It has also drawn ire many times for transferring taxpayer money to the PKK, with HDP mayors and local officials found guilty of misusing funds to support the group and providing jobs to the terrorist sympathizers.