Turkish court rejects appeal of bill to lift lawmakers’ immunity
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Turkey’s Constitutional Court has rejected an appeal of a bill to lift the immunity of 148 parliamentarians.
The bill, which was passed in the Turkish parliament on May 20, will temporarily suspend the constitution and lift immunity of 148 MPs from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Lawmakers from the two parties appealed to Turkey’s highest court on May 26 but the court rejected their appeal on Friday, without immediately releasing reasons for its decision.
Fifty-five of the 59 HDP MPs face over 400 indictments. 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.
The bill, which was passed in the Turkish parliament on May 20, will temporarily suspend the constitution and lift immunity of 148 MPs from the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP).
Lawmakers from the two parties appealed to Turkey’s highest court on May 26 but the court rejected their appeal on Friday, without immediately releasing reasons for its decision.
Fifty-five of the 59 HDP MPs face over 400 indictments. 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.
Erdogan and the AKP have accused HDP of supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and Europe.
Co-chair of HDP, Selahattin Demirtaş, who himself faces 80 indictments, is currently in Switzerland, meeting with European parliamentarians and senior officials.
The bill lifting lawmakers’ immunity has yet to be ratified and signed into law by Erdogan.