Lawmakers with Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) are facing an investigation by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office over their remarks urging the Turkish government to recognise the Armenian genocide.
A total of 26 HDP lawmakers are accused of “insulting the Turkish state” according to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code over the statement issued on April 24, a day of commemoration marking the atrocities during World War I, T24 news site said on Saturday.
The HDP during a Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting on April 24 urged Turkey to recognize the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, in move that sparked strong reactions from Ankara.
Turkey denies the accusations of genocide, saying hundreds of thousands of Armenians and Turks died in clashes after ethnic Armenians in Turkey sided with Russia in the war. It says any killing were not systemic or orchestrated and has strongly objected to all attempts at recognition internationally.
The HDP politicians will be under a probe if the investigation is approved by Turkey’s Justice Ministry, according to T24.
The politicians are accused of insulting “the Turkish Nation and the Turkish Republic,” T24 said, citing the summary of proceedings.
The HDP, which is the third-largest party in Turkey's parliament, is facing a years-long crackdown by Ankara and closure over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group at war in Turkey for Kurdish self rule for 40 years. The HDP denies the claim.