Turkey freezes pro-Kurdish party funds before vote

Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) surrounded by riot police in Istanbul

The third-largest party in Turkey's parliament has had the bank accounts it uses to hold treasury funds blocked months before the general election.

The pro-Kurdish HDP is accused of ties to militant groups who've carried out attacks in Turkey, and of financing their activities.

The HDP, also known as the Peoples' Democratic Party, denies the claims.

Ankara's Constitutional Court blocked the party's share of treasury money used to finance its electoral campaign.

This had been reported by Turkey's state-owned Anadolu news agency.

The HDP was expected to receive 539m Turkish lira ($28.7m; £24.1m) in state grants this year, with around a quarter of that due to be paid this month.

Each of the four parties in Turkey's parliament receives a share of the state grant.

The funding is a party's main resource, with the cash paying for everything from staff salaries to premises.

Conducting an election campaign without it would be almost impossible.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan is fighting to keep his job as Turkey's president, which he's held since 2014. Before that he spent 11 years as prime minister.

A weakened Turkish economy - exacerbated by financial decisions made by President Erdogan - means he's lost the support of many voters ahead of crucial elections, expected to be held in June.

His critics say clamping down on key opposition parties and political figures is his way of curtailing their support ahead of the presidential and parliamentary votes.

In the last election, the HDP won more than 10% of the Turkish vote.

In March 2021 it was accused of links with the Kurdistan Workers Party, and a case was filed.

Known as the PKK, the group is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the United States. The HDP insists there are no ties between the two.

• Turkey's Kurdish fight leaves population in fear

The legal case for the full closure of the party is still ongoing.

In December, State Prosecutor Bekir Sahin asked for the party's accounts to be frozen for its duration, claiming it would be used to aid the PKK.

This latest court decision is seen by many in Turkey as a significant marker in favour of the HDP's activities being permanently suspended.

HDP party chair Selahattin Demirtas and co-chair Figen Yuksekdag have been in jail for more than five years, along with three other HDP MPs and several prominent founders of the party who were charged with terror-related crimes.

Speaking after the court's decision, the party's speaker Ebru Gunay said that efforts were being made to block their participation in the election.

"Only a few days before the distribution of the treasury's aid the Constitutional Court has accepted this request and given such a decision," she told journalists gathered at the party's headquarters in Istanbul.

"This only confirms the impression that the members of the court are under clear and political pressure and the court has been facing obstacles to give fair decisions".

HDP lawyer Ozgur Erol told the BBC that the same members of the Constitutional Court had rejected the head prosecutor's demands to block the party's funds 18 months ago when the closure case was first initiated.

"The only difference between then and now is that Turkey is heading towards elections," he added.

"This is a political intervention to the judiciary, and we do not accept it."