HDP MP Osman Baydemir dismissed from Turkish Parliament for referring to electoral area as ‘Kurdistan’

ANKARA – Doğan News Agency

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şanlıurfa deputy Osman Baydemir was dismissed from parliament’s General Assembly on Dec. 13 for referring to his electoral area as “Kurdistan” in an address.

In line with parliament’s new internal regulations, Baydemir has been banned from two additional General Assembly sessions and two thirds of his monthly salary will be cut.

“I, as a child of the Kurdish people, as a representative from Kurdistan, have such a role,” he had said in a speech.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Ayşenur Bahçekapılı subsequently asked where he meant by “Kurdistan,” after which Baydemir held his hand on his heart and answered: “This is where Kurdistan is.”

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Group Chair Mustafa Elitaş also reacted against Baydemir’s remarks, urging for parliament’s internal regulations to be upheld.

Bahçekapılı then said she would put to a vote whether to ban the HDP deputy, which was accepted by MPs present. Deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the HDP did not participate in the vote, with HDP deputies reminding Bahçekapılı that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had also used the word “Kurdistan” before.

“The honored president also used this word. But pay attention to the context he used it in. Google it and you will understand the context in which the president used it,” Bahçekapılı said in response.

Following the approval of the ban on Baydemir, who will not be able to join the General Assembly on Dec. 14 and 15, HDP deputies protested the decision and walked out of parliament.

The internal regulations of parliament were recently overhauled, introducing sanctions on any deputy who uses the terms “Armenian genocide” and “Kurdistan” in addresses to the General Assembly.

Deputies who use the term are banned from a total of three General Assembly sessions and two thirds of their salary are cut.

This sanction is also valid for MPs who describe Turkey’s southeastern region as “Kurdistan” and provinces in this region as “Kurdish provinces.”

Baydemir is the first deputy to be banned from parliament within the context of these new regulations.