Parliament can't meet over 'a few killed soldiers,' AKP deputy head says

ISTANBUL

Hüseyin Çelik. AA photo

Turkish Parliament cannot meet regarding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party’s (PKK) "raiding a place" and "killing a few soldiers," the ruling party's deputy chairman said yesterday. 

Members of the PKK kidnapped a deputy from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in the southeastern province of Tunceli yesterday, causing the party to redouble their calls for an extraordinary meeting of Parliament, which is currently in summer recess.

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy chairman Hüseyin Çelik dismissed the CHP's calls during an interview on broadcaster Habertürk yesterday, according to daily Hürriyet, saying that calling an extraordinary meeting of Parliament would allow the PKK to set the political agenda in Turkey.

"Parliament can meet if necessary, of course," Çelik said. "But we cannot allow the organization to set the agenda just because they raided a place and killed a few soldiers."

The fact that a lawmaker from Turkish Parliament was kidnapped by the PKK would not change the AKP's stance, Çelik added.

An extensive 19-day military operation against the PKK in the southeastern province of Hakkari ended on Aug. 11. The CHP had asked the government to inform the public about the scale of the operations and the situation in the country's southeast, calling for an extraordinary meeting of Parliament. The government had rejected the call, saying that now was "a time to act and not to talk."

CHP head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the main opposition party would be present at Parliament tomorrow.