The chief public prosecutor of Türkiye's Supreme Court presented his final argument in a trial that may spell the end of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which is closely associated with the PKK terrorist group. Bekir Şahin spoke to reporters after his presentation at the Constitutional Court in the capital Ankara on Tuesday and branded the party a "recruitment office" of the terrorist group whose attacks claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.

Şahin said the HDP's ties with the terrorist group were "a clear fact" and said they 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.

The HDP has been facing a shutdown of its activities since 2021 when Şahin 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. He has consistently called for the party to be banned from all state financial support and a political ban on its members, including former leaders. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization in Türkiye, along with the United States and the European Union.

The Constitutional Court will now evaluate his request. Then, the HDP will be allowed time to prepare a verbal defense against Şahin’s opinion. Subsequently, 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.

Şahin told reporters that the "entire nation" was aware of the HDP's link to PKK, "that, the HDP cannot be considered a separate entity from the PKK and served it." "Nobody heard that members of the defendant party condemned the PKK and its administrators describe it as an armed public movement."

He said their main evidence against the HDP "serving as recruitment office of the PKK" were children who were forced to join the terrorist group or tricked into joining them by terrorists, pointing out to the sit-ins staged outside HDP offices by families of those children for more than three years. He said this role of the HDP still continued even after the launch of the lawsuit.

The chief prosecutor said the verdict's timing was "at the Constitutional Court's discretion."

Last week, the Constitutional Court suspended state funding for HDP as part of the ongoing lawsuit. The court’s ruling to deprive the party of funds as a "temporary measure" came weeks after Bekir Şahin, submitted the request to "urgently" block the party’s accounts where it receives funds from the Treasury on grounds of it having "organic ties" to the PKK and using the funds in line with the aims of the group. Following a response from the HDP, the court is set to reevaluate its decision on whether the suspension will be removed or stay in effect. Of eight members of the board, seven were reportedly in favor of the suspension.