Head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahçeli, targeted signatories of a recent, so-called human rights call on Friday, calling them "rotten people" for demanding amnesty for political prisoners who are facing terrorism charges.
"Within the pretext of the Dec. 10 Human Rights Day, 805 rotten people, consisting from the spineless intellectuals who we all are familiar with, the so-called journalists and characterless academicians, have signed a contempt document," Bahçeli said on his official Twitter account, adding that by signing this document, these people found their place at the top of the betrayal list.
Some 805 people came together on Thursday, mostly academicians alongside journalists and artists among others, and released a statement to mark Human Rights Day. However, the content of the statement contained clear demands on some controversial topics, particularly the imprisonment of politicians, who are mostly pro-PKK People's Democratic Party (HDP) members, facing terrorism charges. Demanding the release of these politicians through amnesty, the statement also called on putting an end to the appointment of trustees to municipalities and bringing the duties back to elected officials. The statement was also calling on reforms for not only legal issues but also for women's rights and environmental issues.
The HDP is known for having links to the PKK terror group. The party has many times drawn ire for transferring taxpayer money and funds to the PKK, a globally recognized terrorist group. HDP mayors and local officials have been found to misuse funds in support of the PKK terrorist group and provide jobs to PKK sympathizers.
Its mayors have also been accused of undermining municipal services, allowing the PKK to dig ditches in the streets and launch attacks on police and soldiers when the terrorist group adopted an urban warfare strategy in July 2015 and ended a two-year reconciliation period. HDP municipalities and their staff were also found to be actively participating in terrorist attacks launched after July 2015.
In last year’s local elections, the HDP won 65 of the municipalities in the country, three of which were metropolitan municipalities. Since then, almost all the municipalities have been appointed trustees as HDP officials faced terrorism-linked charges one by one. Currently, the party holds on to only six municipalities across the country.
"Separatism has no shame. It is cagy, dirty. Separatism is in media, university, municipality, parliament," the MHP head said, referring to the controversial ideologies of the HDP members.
Bahçeli expressed that although Turkey has taken significant steps in fighting against terrorism and "crippled" the PKK terrorist group, the "parliamentarian faces of terrorism" continues to "test patience" through their speeches.
"HDP is a terrorism issue, a nest for separatists," he continued.
Calling on legal reforms to take place, Bahçeli called on the judiciary to shut down the HDP as "Turkish politics has no longer the capacity to tolerate HDP any further."
Bahçeli also expressed that the cases of Osman Kavala, a prominent Turkish tycoon, and Selahattin Demirtaş, former head of the HDP, should reach a conclusion, and it should be confirmed whether they are legally criminals or not.
"This should be the priority of the legal reforms," he said.
Kavala was first arrested on criminal charges related to the 2013 Gezi Park riots which evolved from a minor protest against the redevelopment of the eponymous park in Istanbul. He was acquitted in a February hearing but arrested again upon the request of the prosecutor’s office for his alleged role in the 2016 coup attempt.
Demirtaş, on the other hand, has been in jail since 2016 on terrorism-related charges. He faces a sentence of up to 142 years in jail if found guilty in the main case against him.
"As we can see, 2021 will be the year of reforms. This is our demand and expectations as well," the MHP head further said, underlining full support to any upcoming reform movements.
Comprehensive work on Turkey's anticipated "Human Rights Action Plan" is reportedly ongoing as the Justice Ministry accelerates its efforts on the issue. In order to make the Human Rights Action Plan, which was most recently ordered by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan following a Cabinet meeting last month to be ready as soon as possible, the Justice Ministry regularly conducts meetings with the participation of academicians and representatives from human rights groups.
The plan is expected to focus on the topics of freedom, the right to security, the right to a fair trial, freedom of speech as well as the rights of women and the disabled. The enhancement of these rights and liberties has seen setbacks in the bureaucracy that have prevented these rights and liberties from being implemented properly.
The action plan was first mentioned last year, after the announcement of a new judicial reform.
On May 30, 2019, Erdoğan announced a new judicial reform to strengthen the independent, objective, accountable and transparent features of the judiciary. The judicial reform strategy consists of two basic perspectives, nine targets, 63 objectives and 256 activities.