Pro-Kurdish party in Turkey mulls pulling MPs from parliament – officials

A pro-Kurdish opposition party is considering withdrawing lawmakers from Turkey’s parliament due to mounting pressure it is facing, and as an act of protest against Ankara’s decision to oust 24 of its mayors in the past three months. Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers, mayors and local officials will gather on Wednesday in Ankara to discuss the situation and make a decision on how to respond, according to HDP’s deputy chairman.

“We will continue our struggle against the removal of our mayors in every platform. One of the questions we will answer is whether to withdraw our deputies from the parliament,” Saruhan Oluc said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government accuse the HDP of having links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, leading to prosecutions of thousands of its members and some leaders, Reuters said. The HDP denies such links.

The party’s mayors in the country’s majority-Kurdish southeast were removed in recent months over alleged terror links. The HDP is the only party in the Turkish parliament that opposed the offensive in northeast Syria that began on October 9.