Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish parliament, has appealed to the Constitutional Court for interruption of his January 13th speech and his further suspension from Parliament, Agos reports.
Paylan labels the incident as “the violation of the right to immunity and the freedom of speech.”
Garo Paylan has also applied to the Grand National Assembly, demanding to overturn the decision on his suspension, as it “contradicts the Parliament’s rules of procedure.”
Garo Paylan representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) on Saturday was suspended from parliament for three days after speaking about the Armenian Genocide during the legislature debate of a new Turkish constitution.
In his speech, which angered the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) members, Paylan said that from 1913 to 1923 the Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks and Jews registered in the country, were “exiled from these lands or subjected to tortures as a result of large massacres and genocide”.
“At one time we comprised 40% of the population,” Paylan said despite an uproar by AKP members. “Today we are one among 1000. Something happened to us, and I call it genocide whatever you call it. The Armenian people know very well what happened to them. I know very well what happened to my father, grandfather. Let’s face [history] together,” he added.
AKP member Metin Külünk demanded that Paylan “correct the word genocide.” The legislative session ended, with parliament members condemning Paylan’s statements.