HDP lawmaker Nursel Aydoğan loses seat in parliament
ANKARA
The Turkish parliament has stripped of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Nursel Aydoğan of her status as a member of parliament, after a Prime Ministry motion read at the start of a parliamentary session on May 9. The decision came after a court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır sentenced the former lawmaker in January to four years, eight months and seven days in prison on charges of “carrying out terror propaganda” and “committing crimes on behalf of a terror organization despite not being a member” for participating in the funeral of an alleged member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 2011.
When asked in court why she participated in the funeral of a PKK member, Aydoğan said, “Hundreds of bodies were arriving in Diyarbakır between 2011 and 2012. The funerals were for people who worked for our party. I knew most of them.”
In May 2016, the Turkish parliament approved a law stripping its members of immunity from prosecution, which allowed prosecutors to impeach members of parliament who face investigation.
