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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish parliament revoked Thursday the membership of two pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers and one from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) for being convicted in a court of law, in a move described by the two parties as a “coup.”
The legislative body convened on Thursday, and its deputy speaker Sureyya Sadi Bilgic read out court rulings on the HDP’s Leyla Guven and Musa Farisogullari, as well as the CHP’s Enis Berberoglu, then announced that these lawmakers would be impeached based on Article 84 of the Turkish Constitution.
The article stipulates that, “the loss of membership, through a final judicial sentence or deprivation of legal capacity, shall take effect after the Plenary [of the parliament] has been notified of the final court decision on the matter.”
Today’s move was a surprise to the opposition lawmakers, who claim they were not previously informed of their removal from office. Critics say that the judicial rulings used to justify their removal were adjudicated upon months earlier, but no prompt steps were taken to revoke the convicted politicians’ memberships.
Guven, who was a representative for Hakkari province, was sentenced to six years and three months in late September, after being accused of affiliating with the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group of a number of parties, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The court’s decision came after the politician already served time in prison, which she says was for the KCK case, the proceedings of which began in 2009.
However, the judges who ruled on the case in September are said to have subsequently jailed for alleged links to Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who the government blames for a failed coup attempt in 2016.
Guven told Rudaw Thursday after the impeachment decision that she has already served six years since 2009 for the cases, and therefore will not be jailed again, and wonders how her membership can be revoked based on a ruling made by judges jailed for having links to Gulen.
The politician claims that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is acting against the will of the public in Turkey.
Turkey's parliament has removed our MPs Leyla Güven and Musa Farisoğulları's parliamentary membership in an unlawful step. Güven & Farisoğulları represent the will of millions. Revocation of their parliamentary seats will not intimidate us and our peoples! #MeclisteDarbeVar pic.twitter.com/0PO0BFux0h
— HDP English (@HDPenglish) June 4, 2020
“They have disregarded the will of the Kurds. The AKP always says that the will of the public is above everything, but they are lying. They have to respect the will of the public. The people of Hakkari expressed their will by voting for me while I was in jail,” the MP told Rudaw.
The female lawmaker says she was not in the room when the impeachment decision was announced, but her party tweeted a video of her watching the announcement on television, accompanied by the statement, “resilience is life.”
Farisogullari, who was a representative for Diyarbakir province, was also tried as an affiliate of the KCK and sentenced to nine years in prison.
The CHP’s Berberoglu, an MP for Istanbul province, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison for his alleged role in leaking state secrets to a local newspaper in June 2017, according to Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency (AA).
Opposition lawmakers protested Thursday’s decision at the session by tapping on their tables and chanting slogans including “putschist AKP.”
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the CHP, slammed the decision in a tweet, saying that the party will continue to fight for democracy.
“This disregards the will of the people [who voted for him]. We will continue our fight for democracy, in order to bring about justice, [receive our] rights and [implement the] law.”
Several other HDP and CHP lawmakers also took to the social media site to protest the impeachment decision, sharing the hashtag #DarbeciAKP, which translates from Turkish to “putschist AKP.”
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a member of the parliament’s human rights committee told Rudaw English Thursday night via Whatsapp that Article 84 is being misinterpreted, and the three MPs have parliamentary immunity that should protect them from being ousted in such a manner.
“People’s Democratic Party will respond to this harshly. When I say harsh, let me state that we will not bow down and we will never accept this attack on the will of the nation,” said the lawmaker.
“This is really a big shame and loss for Turkey’s democracy,” added Gergerlioglu.
Many compared Thursday’s removal of the politicians to the post-coup crackdown of the government against dissidents and those perceived to threaten the ruling party in 2016. The HDP suffered greatly under the surge of arrests, which led to the imprisonment of many of its officials, members and supporters, including former co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, who are still behind bars.
Most of the HDP’s 59 mayors have been removed from office and replaced by pro-government administrators (trustees). Some of the ejected-politicians have been detained, tried, and convicted for their alleged links to the PKK, an armed group which struggles for Kurdish cultural and political rights, but is seen by Ankara and its Western allies as a terrorist organization. Six HDP mayoral-elects were not permitted to even begin their term in office despite their victory in the March 2019 local elections.
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