Mardin deputies Ahmet Türk and Emine Ayna, Diyarbakır deputies Aysel Tuğluk and Selahattin Demirtaş, İstanbul deputy Sebahat Tuncel and Van deputy Fatma Kurtulan previously failed to give statements in connection with an ongoing case handled by different courts based in İstanbul, Diyarbakır and Adana, leading to a political crisis. The next hearings in connection with the case will be held today and tomorrow.
The deputies face the risk of being brought to the courtroom by police using force, which observers believe would create a political chaos at a time when the government is attempting to settle the decades-old Kurdish question through democratic steps.
The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court may rule for the forced attendance of the deputies at a hearing out of fear that the statue of limitations on the case might expire if it does not get their testimonies.
The deputies, charged with spreading the propaganda of a terrorist organization, have long refused to testify, saying they would be subject to discrimination if they were forced to do so as they have parliamentary immunity. But since the alleged crimes were committed before the suspects were elected to be deputies and because the cases were opened according to the anti-terror law, the individuals in question cannot benefit from deputy immunity.
Eyes have turned to Parliament once more to resolve the deadlock before it turns into a crisis and observers have pleaded with Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin to take action to prevent any damage to ongoing efforts to solve Turkey's long-standing Kurdish problem. Forcing DTP deputies to testify under the threat of police force would make Turkey experience an infamous incident similar to one in 1994 when four Democracy Party (DEP) deputies were removed from Parliament by police.
The Ankara 11th High Criminal Court is expected to decide on the future of the case today if DTP deputies fail once again to give statements in connection with the case. In a statement earlier this month, Şahin made it clear that he, as parliament speaker, would not allow the transfer of the deputies to the courtroom by police force.
