Turkey’s top court shuts down Önce Vatan Party after leader goes missing

ANKARA

The Constitutional Court has ruled to shut down Turkey’s minor Önce Vatan Party (Homeland First Party), the leader of which, Hüseyin Demirel, is missing.

The party was founded under Demirel’s leadership on May 21, 2014 but he went missing a short while after the establishment, reportedly taking millions of Turkish Liras with him. 

According to the decision published in the Official Gazette on July 4, the party’s closure was requested due to the situation of dispersing on its own with an indictment prepared by the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office.

The Constitutional Court, in return, examined the issue and determined that the party had not held any major congress since its foundation and had not formed its obligatory branches. 

It also stated that the party did not submit its defense to the court during the time given and that its headquarters were emptied previously.

The court unanimously ruled for the transfer of the party’s assets to the Treasury.

The Önce Vatan Party previously came to the agenda after it was claimed that its leader Demirel had not paid debts worth millions of liras to party executives and local business owners. He has been missing ever since.