A senior Turkish prosecutor has demanded that the Constitutional Court block bank accounts belonging to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP, Reuters reported, citing the Haberturk television station.

In March 2021, the chief state prosecutor filed a case against the HDP, Turkey's third-largest party, seeking its ban due to the HDP's alleged ties to Kurdish "militants."

Bekir Sahin, chief prosecutor at the Court of Cassation, has demanded that the HDP's bank accounts, which it receives funds from the Treasury, be urgently blocked while the case is being heard, Haberturk reported.

Sahin will submit his opinion on the details of the case to the Constitutional Court on Jan. 10. The court will then give the PDN time to prepare an oral defense.

In addition to closing the party, the indictment also calls for 451 members of the HDP to be banned from politics for five years. It is unclear whether a final verdict can be handed down before the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for June 2023 at the latest.