A State Department spokesperson, for the first time since the Trump administration took power, expressed ‘concerns’ regarding pro-Kurdish HDP co-chair MP Figen Yüksekdağ’s situation after she was unseated from Parliament on February 21st. On the same day, co-chair of the same party Selahattin Demirtaş given 5 month sentence on charges of “humiliating the Turkish nation, the Turkish Republic, the state and institutions of the state.”
US State Department Spokesperson, in an email, stated:
”The United States is concerned about the prosecutions of elected lawmakers in Turkey on the basis of their public remarks. We firmly believe that the freedom to engage in political speech – even that which some find controversial or uncomfortable – strengthens democracy and should be protected for everyone. This is true of speech by elected representatives no less than for ordinary citizens.”
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