ANKARA - The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals requested that HEDEP, the abbreviation of the People's Equality and Democracy Party, be changed because it reminds us of HADEP, which was closed in 2003.
Greens and Left Future Party (Green Left Party) changed its name at the 4th Extraordinary Congress held on October 15, 2023, and took the name of the People's Equality and Democracy Party. The abbreviation of the party was HEDEP.
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals, where the change was notified, did not accept HEDEP on the grounds that it resembled the previously closed People's Democracy Party (HADEP). The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office claimed that this similarity was against the Political Parties Law.
In the letter sent to the party, it was requested that the abbreviation HEDEP be changed.
Following the letter, the party management discussed the options of changing the abbreviation or appealing to the Supreme Court. According to the information obtained, the party will take concrete steps on this issue after the meeting with party lawyers.
Party Spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan is expected to make a statement on the issue tomorrow.
In its decision, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals drew attention to HADEP, which was established in 1994 and closed in 2003, and said: "Although it is not the same as the short name of the People's Democracy Party, which was decided to be closed, it is similar to the one that causes confusion and it is possible to confuse both political parties with each other; therefore, the illegality of the party short name defined in Article 1 of the Regulation must be reorganized in accordance with the Law.”
The People's Democracy Party was closed down by the Constitutional Court on March 13, 2003, on the grounds that it was "the center of illegal activities", and 46 HADEP members, including Chairperson Murat Bozlak, were banned from politics for 5 years.
MA / Mehmet Aslan