Turkish parliament rejects former Interior Minister Soylu’s immunity lift request

The Turkish Parliament has rejected former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu’s application to have his legislative immunity lifted upon allegations of involvement with crime syndicates. Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş held that necessary conditions for an immunity lift have not arisen in Soylu’s case.

Wednesday August 21 2024 03:14 pm

Duvar English

The Turkish Parliament (TBMM) on Aug. 21 rejected an application submitted by former Interior Minister and current deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Süleyman Soylu demanding to have his legislative immunity lifted.

TBMM Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş rejected Soylu’s petition in a letter which stated “no memorandum concerning you [Soylu] has been received by our Presidency,” according to reporting by the oppositional daily Sözcü.

Süleyman Soylu commented on the Turkish Parliament's rejection of his request to lift his immunity in a conversation with Ciner Media.

“What happens now? Where are those who have been floating thousands of allegations and waving files in the air for the past year? I repeat; I’m here. If you have any allegations or files, bring them forward,” he said.

The deputy continued, “If anyone has anything in hand, not slander or rumors, but actual information and documents, let them bring it to the courts. Let this be handled in independent Turkish courts, not through media or social media slander," suggesting he was willing to resubmit an application in the face of tangible evidence.

What happened?

On July 26, Süleyman Soylu applied to the TBMM Presidency, seeking the removal of his parliamentary immunity.

Claiming that news reports about him were slanderous, Soylu asserted that it had become necessary to fight against these malicious forces within the legal framework, as they aimed to create doubt and suspicion in the eyes of the public.

Soylu stated that since leaving his post at the Interior Ministry, he had been the target of 11,500 television reports, 1,454 newspaper articles, 628 opinion columns, and 218,000 internet and social media posts, all of which he claimed contained lies, insults, defamation, and slander.

He added that despite no pending memoranda against him related to his term in office, leaders, and spokespersons from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had repeatedly and falsely suggested that he was hiding behind parliamentary immunity. Soylu argued that these statements were made to mislead the public deliberately.