Immunity of 27 Parliamentarians In Question

The Prime Ministerial Office has prepared 45 reports in order to lift the parliamentarian immunity of 27 members of parliament (MPs), most of them from the pro-Kurdish DTP.

Erhan Üstündağ

45 reports requesting the lifting of the immunity of 27 MPs have been sent to the Office of the Speaker of Parliament by the Prime Ministerial Office. Most of the MPs concerned are from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).

Three "record holders"

Eleven of the reports concern Necat Birinci, MP for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), seven are about DTP MP Sirri Sakik from Mus in eastern Turkey, and four about DTP MP Nezir Karabas from Bitlis, also in eastern Turkey. Another report concerns Sakik and Karabas together.

Many hurdles for DTP

In order to avoid the 10 percent electoral threshold, many Kurdish politicians entered parliament as independent candidates in the 22 July elections, but reformed under the DTP once they had been elected. They number 20, which is just enough to form a party group.

In November 2007, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) had suggested a change of Article 83 in the constitution, dealing with legal immunity. The party had also demanded an investigation of the DTP MPs without a vote in parliament.

A total of 15 DTP MPs...

The suggestion was rejected in parliament, but there were reports prepared on many DTP MPs.

They are from Istanbul, as well as cities in the east and southeast of Turkey: Istanbul MP Sebahat Tuncel, Ahmet Türk and Emine Ayna from Mardin, Serafettin Halis from Tunceli, Fatma Kurtalan and Özdal Ücer from Van, Osman Özcelik from Siirt, Selahattin Demirtas, Gültan Kisanak and Aysel Tugluk from Diyarbakir, Nuri Yaman from Mus, Ibrahim Binici from Sanliurfa, and Sevahir Bayindir from Sirnak.

Including Sakik and Karabas, this adds up to 15 MPs.

7 AKP, 1 MHP, 1 CHP

The other MPs are from other parties: From the ruling AKP there are Necdet Ünüvar from Adana in the south, Fatma Salman Kotan and Mehmet Hanifi Alir from Agri in the east, Selami Uzun and Mehmet Mustafa Acikalin from Sivas, Idris Naim Sahin from Istanbul, and Mehmet Cemal Öztaylan from Balikesir in western Turkey.

From the MHP there is Mümin Inan from Nigde in central Anatolia, and from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Muhammet Riza Yalcinkaya from Bartin in the western Black Sea region. (EÜ/AG)