Hasip Kaplan
{{Short description|Kurdish politician (born 1954)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Hasip Kaplan
| image = Hasip Kaplan 2015.jpg
| termstart = 2007
| termend = 2015
| birth_date = 1 January 1954
| birth_place = İdil, Turkey
| occupation = Lawyer
| alma_mater = Istanbul University
| party = Democratic Society Party
| otherparty = Peoples' Democratic Party
| constituency = Şırnak (2007, 2011)
| office = Member of the Grand National Assembly
}}
Hasip Kaplan (born 1 January 1954, Dirkseli, İdil, Turkey){{Cite news |date=14 April 2021 |title=Hasip Kaplan ile hasbihal |language=tr |url=https://dogruhaber.com.tr/yazar/memin-ozmen/16424-hasip-kaplan-ile-hasbihal/}} a Kurdish lawyer and politician; former member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for several parties, in 2015 he represented the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) in the Turkish Parliament.
Education and professional career
He graduated from the faculty of law from the Istanbul University and following was a lawyer. He taught international law for the training center of the Istanbul Bar Association.{{Cite web |title=Hasip Kaplan Kimdir? – Hasip Kaplan Hayatı ve Biyografisi |url=https://www.haberler.com/hasip-kaplan/biyografisi/ |access-date=2021-12-09 |website=Haberler.com |language=tr}} He was one of the lawyers who represented Abdullah Öcalan in his trial on Imrali island in 1999{{Cite web|date=1999|title=Turkey: Fear for safety/lawyers beaten by police|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur44/032/1999/en/|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Amnesty International|language=en}} and also his appeal before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2003.{{Cite journal|date=2003|title=European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): Öcalan v. Turkey|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20694349|journal=International Legal Materials|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=42|issue=2|pages=257–308|jstor=20694349 |issn=0020-7829}} Between 1994 and 2002, he represented the politicians of the banned Democracy Party (DEP) before ECHR, namely Ahmet Türk, Leyla Zana, Orhan Dogan, Hatip Dicle and others.{{Cite web|title=European Court of Human Rights – case of Sadak and Others v. Turkey (2002)|url=https://www.legislationline.org/documents/id/5061|access-date=2022-01-07|website=www.legislationline.org}} In the verdict of this trial, the court reasoned that there was a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and Turkey was ordered to pay each of the applicants of the case a remuneration. He also represented the Freedom and Democracy Party (ÖZDEP) in their appeal to the ECHR against their closure by the Turkish Constitutional Court.{{Cite journal|date=2000|title=European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): Case of Freedom and Democracy Party (ÖZDEP) v. Turkey|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20693998|journal=International Legal Materials|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=39|issue=3|pages=513–530|jstor=20693998 |issn=0020-7829}}
Political career
He was a member of the Democratic Society Party for which he acted as a Vice President.{{Cite web|date=28 February 2007|title=Kurdish Politicians Sentenced to Imprisonment|url=https://m.bianet.org/english/print/92637-kurdish-politicians-sentenced-to-imprisonment|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Bianet}} He was elected to the Turkish parliament as an independent representing Sirnak in the parliamentarian election of 2007.{{Cite web|date=2021-09-12|title=Şırnak Seçim Sonuçları 2007 - Genel Seçim 2007|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-2007/sirnak-ili-secim-sonuclari|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Yeni Şafak|language=tr-TR}} Later he rejoined the Democratic Society Party (DTP).{{Cite web|date=30 April 2009|title=Pro-Kurdish DTP MP Questions Phone Tapping|url=https://m.bianet.org/bianet/freedom-of-expression/114227-pro-kurdish-dtp-mp-questions-phone-tapping}} Kaplan then joined the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).{{Cite web|last=Üstündağ|first=Erhan|date=22 January 2009|title=DTP Closure Case at ECHR: Lawyer Kaplan from recently closed DTP applied|url=https://m.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/119596-dtp-closure-case-at-echr|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Bianet}} In the parliamentary elections of 2011 he was re-elected as an independent for Sirnak.{{Cite web|last=Şafak|first=Yeni|date=2021-09-12|title=Şırnak Seçim Sonuçları 2011 - Genel Seçim 2011|url=https://www.yenisafak.com/secim-2011/sirnak-ili-secim-sonuclari|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Yeni Şafak|language=tr-TR}} He was re-elected to the Turkish Parliament in June 2015.{{Cite web|date=2015-06-07|title=Şırnak 2015 seçim sonuçları, Şırnak ili - ilçeleri genel seçim|url=https://www.haberler.com/070615-sirnak-2015-secim-sonuclari-sirnak-ili-7394824-haberi/|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Haberler.com|language=tr}} He resigned from the party and the Turkish parliament as well as politics in general in January 2018 following a controversy over a tweet in which he demanded that Turks should not seek Chairmanship of the HDP in the upcoming party congress.{{Cite web|date=2018-01-11|title=Pro-PKK HDP deputy resigns after racist remarks|url=https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/2018/01/11/pro-pkk-hdp-deputy-resigns-after-racist-remarks|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Daily Sabah|language=en-US}}
Political positions
= Secularism =
As a member of the DTP, he supported the secularism, alleging that if the DTP was absent from the Turkish politics, the islamic Sharia law would dominate in South Eastern Turkey.{{Cite book|last=Gürbüz|first=Mustafa|title=Rival Kurdish Movements in Turkey|publisher=University of Amsterdam|year=2016|isbn=9789089648785|location=Amsterdam|pages=53}}
= Kurds =
Kaplan demanded more cultural rights for the Kurds. In 2010 he opposed the action plan against separatist activities by the Council of Higher Education, alleging the plan would be used to prosecute and observe students attending Newroz celebrations or in the Kurdish language classes.{{Cite web|last=Pelek|first=Semra|date=2010|title=MP Kaplan: Systematic Plan against Kurdish Students|url=https://m.bianet.org/kurdi/minorities/122366-mp-kaplan-systematic-plan-against-kurdish-students|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Bianet}} As in January 2018 the Turkish Armed Forces invaded Syria and occupied Afrin he opposed the military operation.{{Cite web|date=10 December 2021|title=Investigation Launched Against Signatories of Afrin Letter|url=https://bianet.org/english/law/203372-investigation-launched-against-signatories-of-afrin-letter|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Bianet}}
= Justice and human rights =
Being an MP for the DTP and on reports that thousands of telephone conversations were surveilled due to their relation to the DTP, he demanded explications from the Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin and asked if the surveillance was done in due process. Following the closure of the DTP in December 2009, he was one of the plaintiffs in the DTPs appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). As Selahattin Demirtas was tried in 2017, he criticized the Turkish authorities for trying Demirtas in absentia while he is in prison in Edirne.{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Dorian|date=7 December 2017|title=Kurdish Leader Goes on Trial in Turkey Facing 142 Years in Jail|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/kurdish-leader-goes-on-trial-in-turkey-facing-142-years--in-jail/4153757.html|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Voice of America|language=en}}
= In exile in Germany =
In July 2021, the German Authorities informed him that he was on an execution list of 55 critics of the Turkish Government.{{Cite web|date=2021-07-26|title=Germany warns former HDP deputy of assassination threat|url=https://www.duvarenglish.com/germany-warns-former-hdp-deputy-hasip-kaplan-of-assassination-threat-news-58303|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Gazete Duvar|language=tr-TR}}{{Cite web|last=|date=2021-07-27|title=German police tell former MP he's on hit list targeting gov't critics in exile|url=https://stockholmcf.org/german-police-tell-former-mp-hes-on-hit-list-targeting-govt-critics-in-exile/|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Stockholm Center for Freedom|language=en-US}}
Legal prosecution
He was prosecuted attacking the personal rights of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and sentenced to pay a fine equivalent of 3000€.{{Cite web|date=30 March 2011|title=PM Erdoğan Sues out Compensation Fine from Kurdish Politician|url=https://m.bianet.org/bianet/freedom-of-expression/128964-pm-erdogan-sues-out-compensation-fine-from-kurdish-politician|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Bianet}} He blamed the verdict on the political situation as he was sued by the prime minister, judged by a member of the {{Interlanguage link|Yargıçlar ve Savcılar Birliği|lt=YARSAV|tr}} (Workers Union of Prosecutors and Judges) and his lawyer in the case was a member of the BDP. He was also prosecuted for having been the editor-in-chief for one day for the newspaper Ozgür Gündem, but the investigation was dropped in June 2016.{{Cite web|date=2016-06-27|title=Turkey Crackdown Chronicle: Week of June 26|url=https://cpj.org/2016/06/turkey-crackdown-chronicle-week-of-june-26/|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Committee to Protect Journalists|language=en-US}}
Personal life
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan, Hasip}}
Category:People from Şırnak Province
Category:Democratic Society Party politicians
Category:Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) politicians
Category:Democratic Regions Party politicians
Category:Members of the 25th Parliament of Turkey
Category:Members of the 24th Parliament of Turkey