Turkey: Court lifts block on state aid to pro-Kurdish HDP
Turkey's Constitutional Court on Thursday lifted its block on state aid to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
In a majority vote, the court decided that the HDP's accounts where Treasury funds had been transferred should no longer be suspended.
They had previously been suspended on 5 January in the wake of a case against the party that could still see it forcibly closed.
The funds, which are supposed to be provided to political parties in Turkey, will be a crucial source of spending for the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections expected in May.
Total treasury aid to HDP is expected to be around 539.5 million lira (around $28m) this year.
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Chief Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation Bekir Sahin applied to the Constitutional Court on 17 March 2021 for the HDP to be banned, citing its alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The HDP has denied any PKK links and claims the closure case is an attempt by the government to shutter a political opponent.
Dozens of HDP members and officials, including two former co-leaders, are currently in jail in Turkey.
The court announced on Thursday that a plea date for the party was to be postponed to 11 April.
Earlier this week, Turkey's main opposition parties came together to agree Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as their joint candidate for the presidential elections in May.
However, the group named the Table of Six does not include the HDP however, despite it being the third largest party in parliament.
Despite positive comments from some CHP officials, the HDP was excluded from the alliance due to the Turkish nationalist views of some of the other parties.
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