Ahval


Feb. 3, 2022

A preparatory commission made up of members of the Parliamentary
Justice and Constitutional Commissions issued a report in favour of
the lifting of Kurdish opposition deputy Semra Güzel’s parliamentary
immunity with a majority vote, daily Evrensel reported on Thursday.

The commission comprised of three deputies from the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), one from the main opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP) and another from Güzel’s own Peoples’ Democartic
Party (HDP).

The report will be presented to the Justice and Constitutional
Commissions on February 8, and the lifting of Güzel’s immunity will be
discussed in a parliamentary session to be determined later on. If the
general assembly votes to strip Güzel of her status, courts will be
able to go forward with charges of terrorism against the deputy.

Güzel may face two counts of membership in a terrorist organisation
over a series of photos that surfaced in early January, showing the
deputy posing with a member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in
what appears to be an encampment for the armed group. The PKK is
designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, and
the European Union.

“This is a political trial and it is not just about Semra Güzel,” HDP
deputy Filiz Kerestecioğlu said during the commission’s previous
meeting on Wednesday, according to Mezopotamya Agency.

“History from Leyla Zana to this day is no different. Secret witnesses
are unlawful and should be banished,” she said.

Kerestecioğlu added that Güzel had met with the PKK member during a
ceasefire and peace talks between Turkey and the PKK, at a time when
many people were doing the same.

The campaign against Güzel is connected to efforts to criminalise the
HDP and shut the party down, Kerestecioğlu said.

In an earlier statement Güzel had said she had known the PKK member
from her university days, and that they had been engaged to be married
before he joined the group. The pair then lost contact.

“Considering the government itself held meetings with the other side
at a time when millions of people, not only myself, held high hopes
for the future and desired peace, these photos cannot be used as
attempts to slander and conspire against me,” Güzel said.

The photos were taken in 2014, she said, four years before Güzel was
elected to parliament.