PodcastHDP MP Ahmet Şık resigns from party
Ahmet Şık, a journalist and lawmaker from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has announced that he resigned from his party. With Şık's resignation, the number of HDP deputies in the Turkish parliament decreased to 60, whereas the number of independent legislators increased to six.
Duvar English
The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Ahmet Şık announced on May 4 that he resigned from the party.
“I have resigned from the HDP due to the insistence of a dominant understanding present in the party management, excluding our co-chairs, on a stance far away from democratic practices, contrary to the HDP's power, meaning and values,” Şık wrote on Twitter.
Şık said that he submitted his resignation letter to the parliament on April 1 and the resignation became official as May 4. He said that his resignation “decision is a reflection of an individual political stance” and expressed his wish that no one should pay heed to “any conspiracy theories.”
Eş başkanlarımızı tenzih ederek, parti yönetiminde bulunan hakim bir anlayışın HDP'nin gücü, anlamı ve değerleri hilafına demokratik teamüllerden uzak tutumlarında ısrarları nedeniyle HDP’den istifa ettim.
— ahmet şık (@sahmetsahmet) May 4, 2020
With Şık's resignation, the number of HDP deputies in the Turkish parliament decreased to 60, whereas the number of independent legislators increased to six.
Following Şık's announcement, the HDP issued a written statement saying: “We have worked with esteemed Ahmet Şık since the July 2018 elections together, we have labored together. His resignation decision is at his discretion. The HDP will continue to carry on its works being aware of the political and historical responsibility which falls on it.”
Sayın Ahmet Şık ile Haziran 2018 seçimlerinden bu yana birlikte çalıştık, birlikte emek verdik. İstifa kararı kendi takdiridir. HDP üzerine düşen siyasal ve tarihsel sorumluluğun farkında olarak çalışmalarını sürdürmeye devam edecektir.
— HDP (@HDPgenelmerkezi) May 4, 2020
HDP Merkez Yürütme Kurulu pic.twitter.com/WWkaK1RWaI
Şık is also an investigative journalist, the author of several books and a trade unionist.
He is most famous for his book “The Imam's Army,” published in 2011, which exposed the infiltration of the Gülen network into police force and other civil institutions.
At the time, the book was banned by the government, as it claimed that its publication was linked to the Ergenekon group, an alleged conspiracy of secular ultra-nationalists who aimed to launch a coup in Turkey.