Handan Tufan/JINHA

IZMIR –An Izmir civil court has called for the closure of the Izmir branch of Kurdish learning and literary association KURDÎ-DER, claiming "dissidence against laws governing associations."

KURDÎ-DER's lawyer, Canan Uçar, noted that the evidence presented in the case was itself flimsy, and bore no relation to association law.

"Intolerance towards the Kurdish language is continuing today. During the [peace and resolution] process, when there are all these good wishes circulating, this decision should make us stop and think," said Canan, pointing to the motivations behind the decision, which she says has little legal ground.

In 2011, police intervened against an Izmir civil disobedience action led by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP, a predecessor of today's Peoples' Democratic Party HDP). The police immediately followed bybreaking into the KURDÎ-DER building in Izmir's Agora neighborhood at night and conducting a search.

The police claimed that the search, conducted while no association members were present, turned up elements for making Molotov cocktails and opened a criminal case against the association's administrators with the charge of "conducting crimes on behalf of an illegal organization despite not being a member." Now, another, civil case under the charge of "dissidence against laws governing associations" has ended in a court order for the closure of KURDÎ-DER's Izmir branch.

Canan says there are a number of violations of the law in the closure decision. First, the police search was conducted while no association staff or other witnesses were there to see where the alleged "Molotov cocktail ingredients" came from. Second, the alleged violations bear no relation to the laws governing association.

"There's nothing in the decision about the association's activities," she said. She is now preparing a claim to investigate the closure decision.

(ns/fk/cm)