The new Turkey |
---|
21-Feb-2020 11:33 |
20 February 2020: Prosecutors file to lift immunity from pro-Kurdish party deputiesA prosecutor’s office in Turkey’s capital city of Ankara has filed requests to lift the parliamentary immunity of five pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputies, T24 news site said on Thursday. Prosecutors presented a summary of proceedings against HDP co-chairs Pervin Buldan and Sezai Temelli alongside 3 other lawmakers to the Turkish Parliamentary Speaker's Office, T24 said. It was not immediately clear what the accusations against the lawmakers were. Shortly after the elections, a peace process broke down between the AKP and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an outlawed armed group that has fought for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey since the 1980s. Dozens of high-profile HDP politicians and activists have faced legal action since 2015 due to their alleged links to the PKK, including two of the party’s former co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. 24 October 2019: Turkish Parliament receives 30 summaries of proceedings for 19 HDP deputiesThe Turkish Parliament has received 30 summaries of proceedings on terrorism charges against 19 deputies from the Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including Sezai Temelli and Pervin Buldan, the party’s co-chairs, the Diken news website reported. According to the report, as of Oct. 7, 758 summaries of proceedings for 171 deputies have been pending in parliament. If parliament votes to strip the deputies of their immunity from prosecution, they will be tried by Turkish courts. In November 2016, after parliament removed the immunity of deputies who had been charged by prosecutors, the HDP’s then-co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, were arrested.
The investigation has been launched on the allegation that Temelli "made remarks praising [Kurdistan Workers Party's (PKK) imprisoned leader] Abdullah Öcalan and propagandized for an illegal terrorist organization in certain parts of his speech." File of legislative immunity sent to AnkaraAs part of this investigation, a file has been prepared to lift the legislative immunity of Temelli and sent to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Having made a speech in the same meeting with Temelli on January 31, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Vice Co-Chair Halide Türkoğlu has also faced an investigation for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization." On January 19, 2019, the Van Public Prosecutor's Office also launched an investigation against Sezai Temelli on the ground that the content of his speech that he made in "People's Meeting" on December 19, 2018 constituted a crime. (PT/SD) 19 February 2019: Prosecutor launches probe into HDP co-chair Sezai TemelliAn investigation has been launched against Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Sezai Temelli over remarks he made at a meeting in the eastern province of Van, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Feb. 19. The Van Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation over Temelli’s remarks in a speech he gave at an HDP event on Dec. 19, 2018 in Van, organized by the provincial organization of the party. Temelli is facing charges of “making terrorist propaganda” and “insulting the Turkish nation, the Turkish Republic and the state’s institutions and bodies,” said the agency. Around a dozen HDP lawmakers are currently in prison pending trial for terrorism-related offenses after their parliamentary immunities were lifted in May 2016. The Turkish government has repeatedly accused the HDP, the third largest party in parliament, of having links to the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the U.S. Source |