Even Erdoğan backs the release of Turkey’s brightest opposition leader. So why is he still in jail? | Kaya Genç

Turkey's main opposition leader Selahattin Demirtaş remains in prison despite President Erdoğan's public support for his release and a European court ruling declaring his imprisonment politically motivated. As of this month, the 53-year-old politician will have spent a decade in Edirne F-type high-security prison on charges relating to alleged "terrorist propaganda".

Political rise and fall

Demirtaş emerged as a promising political figure a decade and a half ago, becoming chair of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party in 2010. In the 2015 elections, his party garnered 13.1% of the vote, stunning the establishment. However, Turkish democracy began to shrink that summer, and Demirtaş was jailed the following year.

His imprisonment followed protests in October 2014, where more than 40 people died during unrest related to the conflict in Syria. Demirtaş was eventually sentenced to 42 years in total for charges including disrupting state unity and inciting crime, though he was acquitted of homicide charges.

Peace process and legal battles

In December 2024, the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime led to a peace process between Turkey and its Kurdish minority. The Turkish parliament passed a law establishing a legal framework for the dissolution of the PKK, allowing thousands of exiled Kurds to return and suspending prison sentences for some. Yet Demirtaş remained jailed.

In November 2025, the European court of human rights rejected Turkey's appeal against its original judgment, finding Demirtaş's imprisonment to be politically motivated. "The true purpose was to stifle pluralism and limit democratic debate," the court noted.

Unresolved detention

Despite Erdoğan's apparent compliance and Bahçeli's statement that Demirtaş's release would be "beneficial for Turkey," local Turkish courts refused to implement the ECHR's decision. Demirtaş's wife, Başak, who has visited him weekly for the past decade, rented a room in Edirne after rumors of his release, but was told to return home when the release didn't materialize.

Demirtaş has supported the Kurdish peace process from the start, and most party leaders in Turkey have spoken on his behalf. Bahçeli revealed he remains in regular contact through Demirtaş's lawyers. Meanwhile, Demirtaş has written seven books during his imprisonment, using writing as "a different method of resistance against oppression."