Turkey suspends funding for pro-Kurdish party

A top Turkish court on Thursday suspended funding for the main pro-Kurdish party ahead of its possible ban over alleged terrorism ties.

The constitutional court decision deprives the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) -- parliament's second-largest opposition group -- of a key source of income heading into a general election due by June.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses the party of being the political wing of outlawed militants who have been waging a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

The HDP denies formal links to the fighters and accuses the government of targeting the party because of its fervent opposition to Erdogan.

Thousands of supporters and dozens of its current and former officials currently languish in jail on highly contentious charges that have strained Turkey's relations with leading allies in the West.

The party compared Thursday's court ruling to an illegal seizure of assets and vowed to win in the polls.

"This is yet another blow to democratic politics," HDP spokeswoman Ebru Gunay told reporters.

"This decision will not intimidate us," she said. "Now, we are more committed and more determined. Now, we are more militant."

Emma Sinclair-Webb of Human Rights Watch said the decision offered more proof "that Erdogan's government uses courts to disadvantage, remove and punish the political opposition".

Possible ban 

The HDP's future could play a major role in deciding Erdogan's success in parliamentary and presidential polls that pose one of the stiffest challenges of his two-decade rule.

Turkey's constitutional court is due to hear chief prosecutor Bekir Sahin's request to dissolve the party on Tuesday.

The HDP will then argue its own case before the court breaks up for deliberations.

Judges will have the option of either making the funding suspension permanent or banning either the entire party or some of its members.

Turkish media reports say the party was due to receive 539 million liras ($29 million) in treasury support this year.

The party holds 56 of parliament's 579 seats and usually votes together with other opposition parties.

An HDP party spokesman told AFP that the party's only other source of revenue is supporter donations.

The spokesman could not immediately say what percentage of the party's funding comes from the state.

Early election

Thursday's ruling came less than a month after another court banned Istanbul's popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu from politics for slander in a case linked to his hugely disputed 2019 election win.

The 52-year-old has emerged as one of the more likely figures who rose to power in those elections to beat Erdogan in a head-to-head race.

The mayor will hold on to his job while the ruling is appealed.

But he would have to resign if he were elected and his political ban was upheld.

Six of Turkey's bigger opposition parties have been trying for months to decide on a single candidate to challenge Erdogan at the polls.

The HDP is not part of those discussions because some members of the opposition alliance are put off by its support for the Kurds.

The opposition's internal disagreements play to Erdogan's advantage and allow him to use state media to dominate the nation's political debate.

He said once again on Thursday that he may bring the election date -- tentatively set for June 18 -- forward "a little bit".

Turkish media speculate that he may decide to set the vote for mid-May to give the opposition even less time to prepare.