Turkish parliament speaker orders police to search MPs' cars upon entry

Duvar English

Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop ordered police to search deputies' cars before admitting them onto the premises, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Murat Emir said on March 21.

Emir's report follows a hectic week even for the tumultuous landscape of Turkish politics, as parliament became the site of resistance by pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu against the dismissal of his membership over a social media post.

Gergerlioğlu was detained in his pajamas in the early hours of March 21, and released shortly after, leaving behind horrifying images of his detention.

Ankara also moved to close the HDP immediately after Gergerlioğlu started his resistance in the general assembly, and shortly after, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a decree that withdrew Turkey from Istanbul Convention, an international document that protects women's rights. 

"The parliament speaker ordered police to not admit deputies without searching their cars. He must be trying to stage a coup against the national will, since he knows the law and that I have immunity," Emir tweeted.

Standing outside the parliament building, Emir said that police told him that they received orders to not "let a single deputy in without searching their car."

"But the fact is, deputies can't be searched, interrogated or withheld without a court order. Especially not when they're entering their workplace, parliament," Emir said in a second video he shared with his followers. 

The parliament speaker is expected to abide by the constitution, Emir said, adding that "nobody can act on their whims."