(AA photo)
Two senior lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) called on Aug. 15 for the release of jailed Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Selçuk Mızraklı.
DEM Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar made the call after visiting Demirtaş, a former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and Mızraklı, a former mayor of Diyarbakır, at Edirne Prison.
“Our friends should no longer be deprived of their freedom even for an hour. This is required both by justice and by the nature of the process,” Buldan and Sancar said in a statement.
They were referring to a campaign which the government calls the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative. The lawmakers said they exchanged views during the meeting on the relevant legislation.
According to the statement, the jailed politicians described the bill’s passage in parliament with broad support as “very valuable.”
Buldan and Sancar said addressing the situation of Demirtaş and others would contribute to establishing peace and democracy.”
The lawmakers have served as intermediaries between Ankara and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as part of the government’s initiative.
Their visit to Edirne came two days after they met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Aug. 13. The meeting also focused on the campaign and the new legislation.
Before meeting Erdoğan, Buldan had said that “all issues, including Demirtaş’s release,” would be on the agenda.
Parliament approved the 12-article Law on National Solidarity and Strengthening Social Integration on Aug. 10 with 467 votes in favor, 87 against and seven abstentions. The legislation is intended to provide a legal framework for the initiative.
Demirtaş has remained imprisoned since 2016. In May 2024, an Ankara court sentenced him to 42 years in prison in a case stemming from deadly protests in 2014 that erupted after ISIL overran the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani. He was convicted on charges including aiding the disruption of the unity and territorial integrity of the state.
Demirtaş has also been charged with other crimes, including terrorism-related offences linked to PKK and insulting Erdoğan.
The European Court of Human Rights has found violations concerning his detention. Türkiye’s request to refer the judgment to the court’s Grand Chamber was rejected in November 2025.
