Deniz Tekin
The trial of 38 Kurdish politicians, including former Azadiya Welat editor-in-chief and former HDP lawmaker Tayyip Temel and former HDP Mardin MP Pero Dündar, was postponed once again due to procedural deficiencies. The hearing took place at the Diyarbakır 2nd High Criminal Court in southeastern Turkey.
At the 14th hearing, none of the defendants were present, though some defense attorneys attended. The court ruled to wait for the enforcement of arrest warrants previously issued for defendants Heval Erdemli and Tuncay Korkmaz, as well as for the collection of testimony from defendants residing abroad.
The prosecution requested that the procedures related to the outstanding arrest warrants be completed. Defense lawyers asked the court to lift asset seizure orders imposed on their clients, arguing that the financial restrictions were causing economic hardship.
The court decided that requests to lift the asset restrictions would be evaluated only after hearing the defense statements. It also ruled to wait for the outcome of a separate case involving defendant Ercan Akyol, which is ongoing in the southern city of Adana. The next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 23, 2025.
Background
Tayyip Temel was arrested on Oct. 8, 2011, in Diyarbakır during a crackdown targeting alleged members of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), a structure prosecutors say is linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). At the time, Temel was serving as editor-in-chief of Azadiya Welat, the only daily newspaper publishing in Kurdish in Turkey.
An indictment accused Temel of "founding and leading a terrorist organization." He remained in pretrial detention for nearly three years and was released on July 1, 2014. In 2017, he was sentenced to 18 years in prison. However, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation overturned the verdict in 2019, ruling that Temel’s actions should be assessed under the lesser charge of "membership in an armed terrorist organization."
The case involving Temel and Dündar was later merged with the main KCK trial, in which dozens of Kurdish politicians and activists were accused of PKK-related activities. In the retrial, 38 defendants are now facing charges of “founding and leading a terrorist organization” or “membership in a terrorist organization.”
