The new Turkey
Faysal Sariyildiz,
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker

27 July 2017

Turkish parliament strips status of two more pro-Kurdish lawmakers

Turkey’s parliament stripped two pro-Kurdish lawmakers of their parliamentary status on Thursday, further reducing the presence of the HDP, the second-largest opposition party in the general assembly.

The government says the HDP is an affiliate of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged an armed insurgency in the largely Kurdish southeast for more than three decades. The HDP denies direct links to the PKK.

The move to strip Tugba Hezer and Faysal Sariyildiz of their status was read out in parliament after an appeal to remove their membership was submitted and voted on.

The two were removed on grounds of “discontinuity”, or missing general assembly meetings, bringing the number of seats occupied by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to 55 in the 550-seat assembly.

The HDP had 59 lawmakers elected to parliament in the November 2015 general election but has since lost four members.

3 May 2016

The prosecutor in HDP parliamentarian Sarıyldız’s investigation admitted that no guns were loaded in Sarıyıldız’s car, but stated that the HDP MP should be prosecuted for this allegation anyway. 

The AKP’s proposal to lift the immunities of HDP parliamentarians was passed with the votes of 3 parties, AKP, MHP and CHP, after the lynching attempt targeting HDP parliamentarians during the meeting of the Constitutional Commission yesterday. The details of the prosecutor’s investigations, prepared according to the AKP’s instructions, show the irregularities in the case.

The most controversial investigation is the one concerning HDP’s Şırnak parliamentarian Faysal Sarıyıldız. In the investigation carried out by Urfa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and submitted to the Parliament by the Ministry of Justice, prosecutor Uğurhan Kuş admitted that there was no crime but demanded the prosecution of Sarıyıldız anyway.

Below is the scandalous portion of the investigation document the prosecutor prepared on April 24, 2015.: "... for this reason, it is understood that the guns, munitions and other materials were not loaded in Faysal Sarıyıldız’s car, but in this context Faysal Sarıyıldız committed the crime of supplying armed terrorist organizations with guns, still he was elected as an independent parliamentarian during the 24th general parliamentarian election on June 12, 2011. For the reasons above, it is understood that BDP Şırnak parliamentarian Faysal Sarıyıldız committed the alleged crime, and it is requested that the Grand National Assembly of Turkey lift his immunity in compliance with the 83rd article of our Constitution."