Bahçeli gives green light, DEM heads to Edirne: Release Demirtaş
Bahçeli said that Selahattin Demirtaş's release would ‘be a blessing.’ Demirtaş's lawyers have once again applied for his release. In a statement from the DEM Party, they said, ‘Release all our friends.’
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MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli made a noteworthy statement regarding former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş following the ECHR ruling. When asked, Bahçeli said, ‘The outcome has been reached through legal channels. His release will be beneficial for Turkey.’ Calling for a delegation to be sent to Imralı, Bahçeli said, "The process will be greatly strengthened if MPs selected from the commission established in Parliament go to Imralı and receive the necessary messages first-hand.
The MHP is ready to participate in such a delegation.‘ In his speech, Bahçeli conveyed the message that ’the People's Alliance will continue on its path.‘
Reacting to Tom Barrack, the US Ambassador to Ankara and Special Representative for Syria, Bahçeli said, ’Foreign mission officials serving in our country must know their place and their homeland. It is essential and inevitable that they never overstep their bounds or transgress boundaries,‘ he said.
Bahçeli called for this, stating, ’The process of receiving the necessary messages first-hand and directly from the source by MPs selected from the Commission established in Parliament will greatly strengthen the process. The Nationalist Movement Party is ready to participate in such a delegation,‘ he said. Bahçeli, delivering a message on the People's Alliance, said, ’There is no incident between us and the AK Party, but a truth that tightly embraces and surrounds both sides. The People's Alliance will continue on its path." The MHP leader answered questions from the press after his speech at the group meeting.
MAY IT BE BENEFICIAL
When asked about the situation of Demirtaş in prison, Bahçeli replied, ‘The legal process has reached its conclusion. His release will be beneficial for Turkey.’ Meanwhile, the Second Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected Turkey's appeal against the violation and release decision regarding the re-arrest of former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş in the Kobani Case. In a statement on the matter, the DEM Party said the decision was final and demanded the release of those involved in the case. Following Bahçeli's statements, the DEM Party delegation visited Demirtaş yesterday.
THANK YOU MESSAGE
Demirtaş also issued a statement following the ECHR ruling, saying, ‘Issues should be addressed not through concepts of winning, losing, hatred, and revenge, but through the concept of common sense for our common future.’ In a later message, Demirtaş thanked MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, saying, ‘He broke taboos and showed that peace cannot be built by surrendering to fear!’ Demirtaş's lawyer, Mahsuni Karaman, announced that they had applied to the court for his client's release following the finalisation of the ECHR's violation ruling. Karaman said the following about the application: "We have submitted our application to the 22nd Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Ankara Regional Court of Justice. The appeals chamber can do two things here. Firstly, it can immediately release Mr Demirtaş and other detained politicians based on this finalised ECHR ruling, or it can immediately take the case for substantive review. In other words, the case is already with the appeals chamber for review and legal scrutiny. Therefore, in this regard, it can either issue a decision based solely on the ECHR ruling, or it can review the case on its merits, taking the ECHR ruling into account, and issue a release order, or perhaps even a decision to overturn or quash the ruling."
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RELEASE ALL OUR FRIENDS
Speaking at his party's group meeting, DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan said they viewed Bahçeli's statement that ‘his release would be beneficial’ following the ECHR's decision on Selahattin Demirtaş positively, adding, "The purge politics that began on 4 November must now come to an end. Not only Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ, but all our friends tried in the Kobani conspiracy case must be released. Those in exile must return to their country, imprisoned politicians must return to the squares, and peace must return to these lands." Bakırhan said, ‘Exactly nine years ago, on 4 November, our co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş and our MPs were taken from their homes and arrested. This was not just a wave of arrests; it was a purge launched against the Kurdish issue and the third way politics.’
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TTB: DECISION MUST BE IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATELY
Erinç Sağkan, President of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB), made a statement regarding the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling on the violation concerning Selahattin Demirtaş. Sağkan emphasised that the decision should be evaluated ‘not with rote interpretations, but within the framework of the fundamental principles of law.’ Sağkan noted that the ECHR's rulings on Demirtaş in 2020 and 2025 did not merely indicate a violation of personal liberty. He recalled that the court also found that the judicial processes were driven by hidden agendas such as ‘suppressing pluralism and narrowing the space for political debate.’
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IMRALI MESSAGE
The DEM Party Imrali Delegation conveyed a message from PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, whom they visited the previous day. Öcalan said, ‘The Kurdish reality must be included in all its dimensions within the legality of the Republic, and a strong transition process must be established for this purpose.’
