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| The Grand Turk |
| HDP to hold rallies, workshops for autonomy in face of threats of removal of immunity |
| 2016-01-05 |
| [TODAYSZAMAN] In response to recent remarks by the Turkish president that signaled the immunity of the two co-chairs of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) would be lifted for their remarks about Kurdish autonomy, the HDP is preparing to organize rallies and workshops to tell people autonomy will serve to democratize the country. The HDP will hold rallies under the banner "Self-rule and Democratic ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... ," the Hurriyet daily's news portal quoted HDP spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen as saying on Monday. The party will also reportedly hold meetings, worships and conferences in Turkey's western provinces to inform people about self-rule and autonomy. Prosecutors in Ankara and the southeastern province of Diyarbakir last week launched investigations into HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas over his remarks in support of self-rule for the predominantly Kurdish Southeast and for supporting terrorism. The other HDP co-chair, Figen Yuksekdag, as well as some other HDP figures are also facing investigations for their remarks calling for Kurdish autonomy during a recent Democratic Society Congress (DTK) congress. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him... suggested last week that the HDP co-chairs should be stripped of their parliamentary immunity, arguing their statements calling for autonomy in the Southeast are a "constitutional crime." "The statements of the two co-chairs are definitely a constitutional crime," the president said in remarks published on Saturday, arguing that lifting their immunity "would positively affect the atmosphere" in the country regarding the fight against terrorism. Government spokesperson Numan Kurtulmus, however; spoke against the possibility of lifting the immunities of HDP deputies at a presser he held following a Cabinet meeting on Monday. Stating that neither party closures nor lifting immunities of deputies yielded any positive result in the Turkish politics in the past, Kurtulmus called on the HDP to adopt a discourse and methods that are in line with democracy. Demirtas is accused by the Diyarbakir Chief Prosecutor's Office of committing a crime against the constitutional order for saying Kurds could have federal states, autonomous regions or even independent states in the future, during the DTK congress held on Dec. 26-27. In another investigation by the Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office, Demirtas is accused of provoking hatred and enmity among people and for praising crime and criminals in his remarks during the Kobani protests last year. Currently, fighting has been ongoing for around three weeks in the Cizre, Silopi and Sur districts in the predominantly Kurdish Southeast between the security forces and the PKK. The DTK declaration for Kurdish autonomy came at a time when festivities have been ongoing for several weeks between the security forces and members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in towns in the predominantly Kurdish Southeast. |
| Posted by:Fred |