In the latest crackdown on Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party, Turkish authorities on Wednesday stripped a prominent legislator and human rights advocate of his parliamentary seat and took a step toward disbanding the entire party.
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a lawmaker from the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, was convicted over a 2016 social media post which the courts deemed to be terrorist propaganda.
An appeals court decision confirming the conviction was read in parliament, leading to his automatic expulsion from the house. The legislator protested the move and refused to leave parliament.
Justice and Development Party member grabbed Gergerlioğlu by the shirt as he attempted to kick him out of parliament.
An outspoken critic of the human rights record of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government, Gergerlioglu maintains that the trial against him was politically-motivated and aimed to silence him.
The move to expel Gergerlioglu triggered a raucous protest in the assembly hall, with HDP legislators banging on desks and accusing Erdogan's ruling party of an assault on democracy.
The Turkish government accuses the HDP, the largest opposition party in Turkey’s parliament of links to the PKK.
Dozens of elected HDP lawmakers and mayors, including former co-chair Selahattin Demirtas, as well as thousands of members have been arrested in a crackdown on the party. Erdogan’s nationalist ally recently called for the party to be closed down.
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