Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, former leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP), faces up to more than three years in prison since a court accepted an indictment accusing him of “praising crime and criminals” through public statements made over several years defending victims of the government crackdown on dissent.
Kılıçdaroğlu led the CHP from 2010 until 2023.
The indictment, which was filed following a complaint by members of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in 2022, charges Kılıçdaroğlu with making remarks in support of jailed Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtaş= as well as journalists detained under counterterrorism laws.
The MHP officials, including Deputy Chairman Feti Yıldız, submitted the complaint to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, accusing Kılıçdaroğlu of making several speeches and statements that allegedly glorified criminal acts and figures. The indictment, accepted by a high criminal court in Ankara, includes charges under Article 215/1 of the Turkish Penal Code, which criminalizes publicly praising crime and criminals, in conjunction with Article 43/1 for continuous offenses.
The indictment references various public comments by Kılıçdaroğlu, including a 2019 interview in which he criticized the imprisonment of Demirtaş, former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), for his use of the term “Kurdistan.” Kılıçdaroğlu argued that Demirtaş was unjustly imprisoned for political reasons, contrasting the treatment of Demirtaş with that of other politicians who had used similar terminology without legal consequences.
Further, Kılıçdaroğlu is accused of defending CHP lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu’s criticism of Turkey’s use of armed drones and for his remarks during a 2015 visit to Diyarbakır, where he referred to PKK militants as “friends who built barricades.” Additionally, the indictment cites his statement in 2014, where he described the Kurdish YPG militia not as a terrorist group but as a force defending its homeland.
In response to the charges, current CHP leader Özgür Özel strongly condemned the indictment, calling it a politically motivated effort orchestrated by the MHP. “This is a setup by the MHP to cover their failures and silence opposition voices,” Özel said. He also warned that any attempt to imprison Kılıçdaroğlu would be met with strong resistance from the CHP and its supporters.
Özel vowed to stand by his predecessor, stating, “If they want to jail Kılıçdaroğlu, they will have to go through me first. We will not be intimidated.”