ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--The Turkish parliament has voted to give more powers and authority to the military by granting them immunity from prosecution for actions they take while conducting operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The law was passed late on Thursday and will make it significantly more difficult for alleged rights abuses to be properly investigated. Furthermore the permission of the military and political leadership of Turkey will be needed before any soldier can face prosecution. Critics have said this undermines civilian oversight over the military. The law is being applied retroactively, meaning it covers the actions of the armed forces against the PKK since the war was reignited last July after the failure of the two year ceasefire. This comes after human rights organizations and the United Nations have expressed serious concern over the actions of the Turkish Armed Forces in their ongoing fight against the PKK, especially the curfews and sieges they leveled against urban areas where the PKK were believed to have had a presence. Scores of civilians have been killed in clashes between the military and the PKK since last July. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan estimates that the Turkish state has managed to kill 7,500 PKK members since the resumption of hostilities, with a loss of 500 troops and security forces. The vote to give the military immunity comes after the parliament voted to strip pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentarians of their immunity last May so they can be subject to criminal investigation for their alleged links to the PKK.
