Selahattin Demirtaş, former leader of the People's Democratic Party of Turkey, sentenced to 40 years in prison

A court in the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey's capital, on Thursday, May 16, sentenced Selahattin Demirtaş, the former leader of the People's Democratic Party (HDP), to over 40 years in prison for inciting people to protest in 2014 against the ISIS attack on the Kurdish city of Kobani in Syria. The court also sentenced Figen Yüksekdağ, another leader of the pro-Kurdish party, to over 30 years in prison. According to Reuters, these sentences are likely to escalate political tensions in Turkey. The report notes that with these rulings, there is a possibility of a separate legal case leading to the closure of the HDP. The news agency reported that defense lawyers and attendees in the courtroom banged on the table and shouted in Kurdish, "Long live resistance" and "Long live Kobani resistance" as the judge began reading the sentences. In the solidarity protests with Kobani in 2014, 37 people were killed. These protests were against what was perceived as the Turkish army's alignment with ISIS militants in the battle for Kobani, on the Syria-Turkey border. Since then, dozens of senior officials of the HDP have been convicted on charges such as murder and harming the unity of the Turkish state, while some defendants have been acquitted. The party has denied the allegations. Meanwhile, Tülay Hatimoğlu and Tunçer Bakırhan, co-chairs of the Party of Equality and Democracy, the successor to the HDP, condemned the rulings as a "black mark" in Turkey's legal record and an attempt to "erase" Kurdish politicians. Tülay Hatimoğlu stated: "Today in court, we witnessed the violation of the law. There is no longer anything called justice in Turkey," emphasizing that "the court rulings once again showed us that they are alongside ISIS and fascism. This ruling is null and void." Demirtaş has been in prison since November 2016 on terrorism-related charges, yet remains one of Turkey's most influential political figures. He and Yüksekdağ were among 18 defendants who were previously imprisoned. Critics argue that Turkish courts are under the influence of the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but he and the ruling Justice and Development Party deny this. In 2020, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey must release Demirtaş, stating that his rights, including freedom of expression, had been violated. Ankara accuses the HDP of having ties to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. The HDP denies any connection to terrorism.