Turkish parliament expels more pro-Kurdish lawmakers in absentia
Turkey has stripped two more pro-Kurdish lawmakers of their seats in its ever-widening dragnet as pro-Kurdish politicians and their supporters take to the streets of Diyarbakir.
Turkey’s parliament broke another chip off the country’s largest pro-Kurdish bloc today, stripping two of its lawmakers of their seats over absenteeism. The move against Turkey’s third-largest party marks a first in the chamber’s history.
Tugba Hezer Ozturk and Faysal Sariyildiz of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lost their seats for failing to attend any parliamentary sessions since October 2016. Hezer, from Van province on the Iranian border, and Sariyildiz, from Sirnak on the Iraqi border, face a panoply of charges surrounding their alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Both are believed to be in Europe.
