Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) will support draft legislation by the ruling party that would strip lawmakers of their immunity from prosecution, CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on Wednesday night.
ISTANBUL: Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party
(CHP) will support draft legislation by the ruling party that would
strip lawmakers of their immunity from prosecution, CHP leader Kemal
Kilicdaroglu said on Wednesday night.
President Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly called for deputies
of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) to face prosecution,
accusing them of being an extension of the outlawed militant group, the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Kilicdaroglu told broadcaster CNN Turk his party would support the
proposal, even though he said it would be contrary to the constitution.
"A measure which is against the constitution has been put
forward. We know that, but we will say 'Yes' to it," he said in an
interview, adding that nobody should have immunity from prosecution,
without giving details.
HDP deputies have criticised Turkey's large-scale security
operations in its mainly Kurdish southeast, where violence has surged
since the collapse of a two-year ceasefire with the PKK militants last
summer.
The HDP criticism has fuelled Turkish nationalist calls to
prosecute politicians seen as close to the PKK, which is listed as a
terrorist organisation by Turkey and its Western allies.
All 316 AK Party lawmakers signed Tuesday's draft proposal,
party officials have told Reuters. Lawmakers in Turkey are normally
protected from prosecution.
For the AK Party proposal to be accepted without the need
for a referendum, it must win the support of 367 MPs in the 550-seat
assembly. The CHP has 133 seats.
The HDP is the subject of more than half of some 550
dossiers in parliament calling for the lifting of immunity from
prosecution.
The HDP gained 59 lawmakers in last year's parliamentary
election after clearing the 10 percent threshold to enter the assembly.
It is the third largest party in the parliament.
(Reporting by Gulsen Solaker; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
- Reuters
Post a Comment