Demirtaş Faces Up To 24 Years For 'Provoking People' During Kobani Protests

An investigation has been launched against People's Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş for allegedly provoking people by arming them during violent protests triggered by events in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani late last year, with prosecutors seeking up to 24 years for the politician.
The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched the probe into Demirtaş, the Hürriyet daily reported on Wednesday. If the prosecutors decide that the politician committed the alleged crimes, they will ask Parliament to lift the immunity of Demirtaş.
The HDP politician faces up to 24 years in prison if his immunity is lifted and a case is filed against him.
The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have accused Demirtaş of supporting the Kobani protests, with Erdoğan many times holding jim responsible for the death of more than 30 people killed during the protests on Oct 6-7, 2014.
Earlier this month, Erdoğan attacked Demirtaş, who is credited with helping the HDP pass the election threshold by widening the party's appeal through his peaceful rhetoric in the Jun 7 elections.
“It is not possible for me to forget the Oct. 6-7-8 incidents,” he said, referring to the Kobani protests staged to protest the government refusal to help in the defense of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani that had come under an attack from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Also on Thursday, summaries of proceedings prepared by prosecutors that seek to strip nine deputies from the HDP of their legislative immunity have arrived at Parliament.
Prosecutors accuse the deputies of providing arms for a terrorist organization.
The nine deputies include Faysal Sarıyıldız, who was claimed to have picked up a courier heading for the southeastern Suruç district of Şanlıurfa who was allegedly carrying weapons for militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Sarıyıldız denied the claims that appeared in the pro-government media last week. (Cihan/Today’s Zaman)