Erdogan Urges End to Pro-Kurdish MPs' Immunity from Prosecution
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wednesday called on parliament to "swiftly" end immunity from prosecution for pro-Kurdish lawmakers, accusing them of "inciting terrorism."
"We must swiftly finalize the issue of immunities. Parliament must take steps on this issue swiftly," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara, repeating his call to expand the definition of terrorism.
Turkey's parliament has set up a committee to consider lifting the immunity of five lawmakers from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including party leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, so they can be tried over their call for Kurdish autonomy.
"I no longer see as legitimate political actors the members of a party which is operating as a branch of the terrorist organization," Erdogan said, repeating his claim that the HDP is a front for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
"There is no other state than the Turkish Republic and will never be."
Turkish media said that a simple majority in a vote in parliament -- where Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds more than half the seats -- would be enough to strip the MPs of their immunity.
In December, Demirtas said that the Kurdish minority in Turkey had to decide whether to live in autonomy or "under one man's tyranny", in an apparent reference to Erdogan, AFP reported.
Erdogan's call comes amid rising tension between the authorities and many in the Kurdish minority over the military's relentless campaign -- backed by curfews in several towns -- against rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeast.
Several pro-Kurdish mayors in the region have already been investigated since the summer on similar charges.
