Women on their way to Izmir as trial of killer of Deniz Poyraz opens tomorrow

The first hearing of the case regarding the armed attack on the HDP Izmir Provincial Organization building on 17 June 2021 and the murder of Deniz Poyraz will be held at Izmir 6th High Criminal Court tomorrow (Wednesday).

HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan, MPs, provincial and district party executives and members will follow the case. Women from all over the country, from Istanbul, Ankara and provinces in the Aegean region, have set off towards Izmir today to be at the trial.

The HDP, which was the target of the attack, will demand institutional participation in the lawsuit process at the first hearing. Against the understanding that tries to reflect the incident as a single attack by a single person, the HDP will consider its legal struggle as a process of struggle against the killer and the dark structures behind him.

Hundreds of lawyers will join the case, including several bar association presidents. HDP lawyers, who have been preparing for the trial for a long time, reiterated in many statements that the killer of Deniz Poyraz did not act alone, that he was supported, that he had open relations with the political structures targeting the HDP, and that he repeatedly called the police. Likewise, the lawyers pointed out that the MIT and the police did not prevent the massacre. On the contrary, they facilitated killer Onur Gencer to carry out the massacre.

The role of the government, the judiciary and the media

After the AKP-MHP government’s statements targeting the HDP, the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office submitted a second indictment to the Constitutional Court for the closure of the HDP on 7 June, and 10 days later, on 17 June, an attack was carried out on the Izmir provincial building and Deniz Poyraz was murdered. Killer Onur Gencer said that he had expected to kill more people in the provincial building.

Background

In a statement released on the day of the killing, the HDP said: “An armed attack was carried out targeting our İzmir Provincial Building at around 10:30 this morning. Our party has been targeted by the ruling party and the Ministry of Interior for months, and some families have been directed to our provincial buildings for provocation.”

The HDP said that the attacker is 35-40 years old and raided the building while party member Deniz Poyraz was inside.

“The attacker, who opened fire and set the building on fire, was left free to act for a long time. Our party member, our comrade Deniz Poyraz, was killed during the attack,” the statement said.