Turkey's Parliament to oust two Kurdish lawmakers
The Parliament has already kicked out two HDP lawmakers, including the party's former co-leader Figen Yuksekdag and Nursel Aydogan following a court's conviction.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - The Speaker's Council of the Turkish Parliament convened on Wednesday to discuss the ousting of two pro-Kurdish lawmakers who failed to attend parliamentary sessions for over a year.
Opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Tugba Hezer of the Van Province and Faysal Sariyildiz of the Sirnak Province fled Turkey to Europe in May 2016, shortly after the Turkish Parliament passed a law lifting lawmakers' immunity from prosecution.
Attending the Speaker's Council's meeting, members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and those of its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), are expected to argue in favor of ousting the HDP MPs, said Kurdistan24's Ankara Bureau.
Turkish courts have issued arrest warrants for both Hezer, the Parliament's youngest member at 27, and Sariyildiz on terrorism-related charges for their campaign speeches and attendance at funerals for fallen Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas who fight government forces.
According to Turkish media, one of Hezer's brothers was a PKK fighter killed by the army, and claim her sister remains in the ranks of the US-backed People's Protection Units (YPG) which is leading the war against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.
The Parliament has already kicked out two HDP lawmakers: the party's former co-leader Figen Yuksekdag, and Nursel Aydogan, following a court conviction.
If Hezer and Sariyildiz are also removed from parliament, the HDP's number of seats will fall to 55 from its original 59.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government officials have accused the HDP, the country's second-largest opposition block, of being a political front for the PKK.
An ongoing crackdown on the HDP has seen thousands of arrests against its members nationwide as 11 of its lawmakers, including the party's co-leader Selahattin Demirtas, remain in prison since last year.
Editing by G.H. Renaud