Turkey parliament mulls lifting Kurdish leaders immunity

The Turkish parliament will consider stripping two Kurdish leaders of immunity in a bid to legalize their prosecution due to their recent calls for autonomy, local media report.

The parliament’s justice commission is about to form a sub-committee in order to consider removing the immunity of Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, both leaders of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), Sabah Daily reported on Sunday.

This came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the immunity of the two leaders of the Kurdish party should be removed for committing a “constitutional crime.”

The pro-government paper also said that a simple majority is needed in parliament to remove the two MPs’ immunity. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds more than half of the seats and the move is anticipated to receive enough votes.

Last week, Turkish prosecutors opened a probe against Demirtas for the remarks he made at a conference. He said the Kurdish people in Turkey need to decide whether to live in autonomy or “under one man’s tyranny,” in a clear reference to Erdogan. A similar investigation was later opened against Yuksekdag.

Selcuk Ozdag, the deputy chairman of AKP, said that those who "damaged the integrity of the country, supported terror or who hurts unity" should not have immunity.

"It does not matter which party someone is from: immunity should not be used as a shield against criminal proceedings over grave crimes. No-one should have the freedom to commit crimes... the HDP has already overstepped the mark," Ozdag said.

Demirtas, however, accused Erdogan of "giving out verdicts like the supreme court."

Several mayors in the Kurdish regions have been investigated over the past few months on similar charges.

The developments come amid growing tensions between the government and the Kurdish politicians over the recent military campaign against militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the country’s southeast.

The Turkish raids against the PKK began in the wake of the July 20 bombing that left 30 people dead in the southern town of Suruc. Ankara blamed the bomb attack on Daesh terrorists.

Following the bombing, the PKK, which accuses the government of backing Daesh in Syria, began targeting Turkish security forces in what is viewed as reprisal attacks.

Since mid-December, curfews have been imposed in the towns of Silopi and Cizre in Sirnak Province as part of the army operations against PKK fighters, promoting angry reactions from the residents of the Kurdish-majority areas.

HDP said 56 civilians lost their lives during curfews in December alone. The Kurdish party also accused Ankara of “ordering a massacre” in Silopi and Cizre.

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