Panel head to meet Çiçek on immunities

ANKARA

Çiçek will meet with the charter panel head on the immunity issue. AA photo

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Istanbul deputy Burhan Kuzu, who is also the head of Parliament’s Constitution Commission, will hold a meeting Dec. 19 with Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Çiçek about lifting the immunity of 10 Kurdish issue-focused lawmakers.

Kuzu announced the meeting on Dec. 17 in response to questions asking what would be done next concerning the immunity issue.

Asked whether he would also meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the issue, Kuzu said, “Let me talk to the parliamentary speaker first, then we will look according to developments.”
The issue of lifting the immunity of one independent and nine Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) lawmakers has dominated Turkey’s political agenda since Erdoğan emphasized his willingness to support the move on Nov. 26. He had also called on the judiciary to take action against the lawmakers, who were seen embracing and warmly chatting with armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants near Şemdinli in Hakkari province Aug. 17. The Van Prosecutors’ Office asked for permission to open a probe into the deputies on charges of providing aid to the PKK following a two-month-long inquiry. Just a day after Erdoğan’s statements, the Prime Ministry provided the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office with a summary of proceedings on the deputies in question on Nov. 27. The proceedings were then sent to Parliament’s Joint Constitution and Justice Commission. If the members of the commission give their consent, the summary will be sent to the General Assembly, where a vote may pave the way to the opening of cases against the deputies.