28.04.2016
Subject: Lifting parliamentary immunities in Turkey
Ms. Pia Kjærsgaard
President of the Parliament of Denmark
Dear Ms.
Kjærsgaard,
Turkey is rapidly moving away from democracy and the rule of law due to President Erdoğan and
the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s increasing authoritarian policies – particularly
with respect to the Kurdish issue. At multiple platforms we have expressed grave concerns that such
antidemocratic policies are dragging the country into political violence, social polarization, and socio-
economic instability. We have also emphasized that the only way out of these circumstances is to resume
the peace process with the Kurdish movement and broaden the field of democratic politics.
Unfortunately, Turkey is moving full force in the opposite direction despite ongoing negotiations for
accession to the EU.
Turkey’s already weak parliamentary democracy is under a new totalitarian attack. President
Erdoğan and the AKP government have virtually subordinated the Turkish judiciary to the executive by
several governmental and legal interventions over the past two years. Now, a recent motion by the
government to lift legislative immunity seeks to oust political opposition from the parliament. If passed,
this motion would suspend Article 83 of the Constitution, which guarantees parliamentary immunity,
through addition of a provisional clause. Lifting parliamentary immunity with such an anti-Constitutional
move would extend Erdoğan-AKP bloc’s monopolistic grip to the legislative body.
We view this motion as a political coup attempt to completely destroy the separation of powers
by subordinating the legislative to the executive and leaving the former to the mercy of a thoroughly
politicized and biased judiciary. If successful, this coup would be a most crucial step for Erdoğan to replace
Turkey’s parliamentary democracy, which he has twice declared “de facto over,” with an absolutist
presidential system in which the legislative, executive and judiciary powers are virtually monopolized by
the President himself.
As of April 21, 2016, the summaries of court proceedings of 131 deputies had been sent to the
parliament. If the AKP’s motion passes, these deputies will lose their immunity. Of these, 26 are AKP
deputies, 51 are Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputies, 46 are Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
deputies, 7 are Nationalist Action Party (MHP) deputies, and 1 is an independent deputy. The AKP
government represents the mixed profile of these deputies as proof of the non-partisan intention of the
motion. This is simply a pretense.
What this motion seeks to destroy is the HDP opposition in the parliament. Despite the
antidemocratic %10 election threshold, mass arrest and imprisonment of thousands of our party
executives, members and electorate, hundreds of physical attacks on our offices, and constant
criminalization and scapegoating, the Erdoğan-AKP bloc failed to prevent us from entering the parliament
in the elections on June 7
th
and November 1
st
, 2015. Lifting our immunity is their latest move to exclude
the HDP from the parliament. In fact, in his many public statements regarding the motion, President
Erdoğan did single out HDP deputies and criminalized us as “supporters of terrorism” with groundless
accusations.
________________________________________________________________________________
Contact:
Web:
www.hdp.org.tr
Address:
Barbaros Mah. Tahran Cad. Büklüm Sok. No: 117 06680 Çankaya, Ankara - Turkey
Phone:
+90 312 427 17 80
Fax:
+90 312 4288957