Jailed Kurdish lawmaker may lose seat this week

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Kemal Aktaş, a jailed independent Kurdish lawmaker, may lose his seat within days, as the official notification of the Supreme Court of Appeals approving his conviction of a terror-related crime has been submitted to the office of Parliament’s Speaker.

Announcing this notification to the General Assembly will suffice for Aktaş to lose his seat, according to the Constitution, and this is expected to take place this week. There are concerns that Aktaş’s conviction could be followed by other sentences against lawmakers of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and deal a blow to the ongoing constitution-making process.

Aktaş was sentenced to two years and a month because of a speech he made in 2006. He was elected as an independent deputy when he was already behind bars.