ANKARA
Diyarbakir Chief Public Prosecutor has launched an investigation on the co-chairman of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) regarding the deadly October protests across Turkey.
In October 2014, the HDP issued a call inviting its sympathizers to the streets, sparking illegal demonstrations as a token of “solidarity” with Syria's Kurdish populated town of Kobani that was then under siege by terrorist group ISIL. The resulting street clashes left nearly 40 people dead.
The probe on Demirtas concerns charges of "inciting a part of the public against another by arming them" as stated in the "Crimes against Public Peace" segment of the Turkish Criminal Code.
The prosecutor will also demand Demirtas's legislative immunity be lifted, as per Article 83 of the Turkish Constitution, if the probe concludes that the crimes spelled out in the charges were indeed committed.
If a criminal case is launched, the prosecutor might demand a prison term of up to 24 years against Demirtas.
Dozens of people, including two policemen, were killed last October as pro-Kurdish protesters took to streets across the country under the pretext that the Turkish government was allegedly doing nothing to halt the advance of Daesh terrorists pouring into the Turkish-Syrian border town of Kobani.
