Erdogan: Adoption of Bill to Strip Lawmakers of Immunity 'Historic'
18:42 20.05.2016
By allowing the removal of lawmakers' immunity, the Turkish parliament has made a decision that has "historic" significance for the country, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Earlier in the day, the parliament backed a bill that provides for 138 lawmakers to be stripped of immunity from prosecution.
"Today's vote is historic. My people do not want legislators who back a separatist terror organization [the Kurdistan Workers' Party] to sit in Parliament. The ruling [Justice and Development] party, the Nationalist Movement Party say 'They should not be here'," Erdogan told supporters in the northeastern Turkish town of Rize.
The ruling Justice and Development Party-sponsored bill, was mainly opposed by lawmakers from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who are afraid of being prosecuted because of the party's pro-Kurd positions.
Currently, 138 Turkish lawmakers in the 550-seat parliament are under investigation, including 41 HDP legislators.
© Sputnik
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