Turkish main opposition CHP will vote to strip HDP MP Semra Güzel of parliamentary immunity
Turkey's main opposition CHP has announced that it will vote in favor of stripping the parliamentary immunity of HDP MP Semra Güzel over a 2014-dated photo of her with a PKK member at a camp in northern Iraq.
Duvar English
Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Group Deputy Chair Özgür Özel announced that the party will vote to strip Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Semra Güzel of her parliamentary immunity.
“In order for the investigation to proceed [against Güzel], we will vote 'yes' for this file," Özel said during a press conference in parliament on Jan. 19.
The government is seeking to strip Güzel of her deputyship over an old photo of her with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) member Volkan Bora at a camp in Iraqi Kurdistan. Bora was killed in 2017 in an operation.
The prosecutors have already sent the summary of proceedings against Güzel to the parliament.
Özel said that Güzel had made a big mistake in the past and her action "is not forgivable." He said that Güzel's photo in which she is seen wearing PKK clothes and holding a gun "is not compatible with deputyship."
Last week, HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar commented on the relevant photo, saying that it was taken in 2014 when the peace process was still ongoing and that the process was encouraged by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.
“While the process was going on, with the encouragement of the AKP government, tens of thousands of people had the opportunity to see their PKK member children, relatives and loved ones. The government itself prepared the way,” Sancar said in an interview on Jan. 13.
Meanwhile, opposition İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener also made it clear that they are going to vote on behalf of striping Güzel of her immunity. "The stance of the İYİ Party is clear and unequivocal on the issues of aiding and abetting terrorism," she said in a statement to the press on Jan. 14.