Socialist Party and Others v. Turkey, No. 21237/93, ECtHR (Grand Chamber), 25 May 1998

Dissolution of a pro-Kurdish political party. Political programme regarded as questioning the State’s organisation and national security.

Art. 11 ECHR

The fact that a political programme is considered incompatible with the principles and structures of a State does not make it incompatible with the rules of democracy. It is of the essence of democracy to allow diverse political programmes to be proposed and debated, even those that call into question the way a State is currently organised, provided that they do not harm democracy itself.

(In the present case, the Turkish Constitutional Court banned a party whose chairman’s statements had referred to the right to self-determination of the “Kurdish nation” and its right to “secede”. According to the ECtHR, such statements did not encourage secession but sought to emphasise that the establishment of a federal system in Turkey could not come about without the Kurds’ freely given consent, which should be expressed through a referendum).

The ECtHR unanimously held that the permanent dissolution of the applicant party and the banning of its leaders from carrying on political activities had breached article 11 of the Convention.
The ruling at hand, which was delivered just a few months after the judgment United Communist Party of Turkey and Others v. Turkey of the Grand Chamber, inaugurates a rich body of decisions where the ECtHR condemned the Turkish authorities for banning pro-Kurdish political parties and/ or parties deemed to promote separatist instances incompatible with the territorial integrity and the security of the nation.