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TWO more Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MPs were stripped of their status “unlawfully” today as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to silence critical voices.
MP Filiz Kerestecioglu said her colleague Ibrahim Ayhan had lost his seat because of a social media post “about a person who is fighting Isis,” while Ahmet Yildirim had been punished for referring to someone — presumably Mr Erdogan — as a “sultan wannabe.”
“We will not wait for the decisions about our MPs to be read,” Ms Kerestecioglu told the Turkish parliament before leaving the session. “This is something recurring and a blow to the will of the people.”
“If a deputy is being stripped of their status because of words such as ‘sultan wannabe,’ this in fact [demonstrates] the impotence of the person being talked about,” she said.
“By ignoring the people’s will and stripping their deputies, the bonds of this parliament with the deputies are being broken, but the deputies’ bonds with their people cannot be cut.
“This parliament has no other function than notarising. We know well that you are doing all this because you are aware that you will never be able to stay in power if there is a fair election, if there is a true and transparent media.
“The peoples of this country are aware of this too.
“Ahmet Yildirim and Ibrahim Ayhan will always be people’s deputies. This parliament is now a place where we stay only because we have promised our people that we will stay until the last one of us remains,” she warned MPs.