DIYARBAKIR, Turkey - Kurdish lawmakers in Turkey, who are facing losing their representation in parliament after Turkey’s Constitutional Court rejected their appeal of a bill lifting their immunity, are debating their options going forward. Two options they are discussing are establishing a separate Kurdish parliament, either a local one in Diyarbakir or a government in exile based in Europe. Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) MPs have brushed aside HDP ambitions recalling the short-lived Kurdish states of the Republic of Mahabad and the Sulaimani Kingdom (Kingdom of Kurdistan). Fifty-five of the 59 pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MPs facing over 400 indictments will lose their parliamentary immunity once the bill, passed by parliament on May 20, is signed into law. HDP has argued that the bill is a discriminatory tactic to deny the Kurdish minority access to democracy and is an effort to remove the opposition in order for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to manipulate parliamentary numbers and gain the support President Recep Tayyip Erdogan needs to create a powerful presidential system. HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş is currently in Switzerland stepping up pressure on Europe to support the Kurdish cause. He is meeting with top European politicians and senior officials of international institutions. He has brought with him an album of photographs of the city of Cizre, which was largely destroyed during a military curfew and clashes between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). HDP has accused Turkey of massacring civilians in the city. HDP has sent copies of the photo album to European lawmakers.
