Gov't may be preparing to take steps against social peace, CHP MP says on calls to shut down HDP

Serkan Alan / DUVAR

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The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) may be preparing to take steps against social peace, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Erdoğan Toprak said on the calls to shut Kurdish issue-focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) down.

Toprak, in a report, pointed to the fact that the appointment of Bekir Şahin as the chief public prosecutor of the Court of Cassation by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the calls to shut HDP down happened around the same time.

Şahin's appointment raised eyebrows since he ranked fourth in the voting to elect a chief public prosecutor of the Court of Cassation. Despite the existence of three candidates who received higher votes, Erdoğan picked Şahin, prompting the opposition to question the motive.

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"The fact that the timings of the appointment, stripping deputies of their parliamentary statuses and the calls to shut down HDP were simultaneous makes one think that the government is making dark plans against the opposition and social peace," Toprak said.

Toprak was referring to the stripping of HDP deputies Leyla Güven and Musa Farisoğulları and CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu of their parliamentary statuses on June 4. All three were arrested hours later, but Berberoğlu was released on June 6 over the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the report, Toprak said that the move on the deputies shows that the government plans to carry out the all-out siege on the opposition with different methods in the upcoming days.