Speaker calls urgent parliamentary session on Aug. 14

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) on Tuesday filed an official request at the Parliament Speaker's Office, calling on the parliament speaker to hold an urgent session.

The CHP's move comes in the wake of simultaneous attacks on four military outposts in the southeastern province of Hakkari by terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Sunday. The attacks left six soldiers and two village guards dead. Fourteen terrorists were also killed in clashes with Turkish security forces.

The Turkish Parliament adjourned for summer recess on July 4 and will start a new legislative year on Oct. 2.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, Çiçek was reminded of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Nationalist Movement Party's (MHP) rejection of the CHP's proposal for the parliamentary gathering.

In response, Çiçek said: “I don't know that part of the issue. The Parliament Speaker's Office has a limited number of responsibilities. Taking past practices into consideration, we do that part of the job. The rest concerns the deputies and party groups.”

The AK Party and the MHP oppose the CHP's proposal on the grounds that it will serve the interests of the PKK.

Regarding the CHP's proposal, Erdoğan said: “The AK Party is not a party which will bow to the will of a separatist terrorist organization like the CHP. Go ahead, Parliament is there, you [CHP] go and do whatever you want there.”

For his part, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli had said it would be better to show the face of the state in Şemdinli (Hakkari) instead of discussing the issue in Parliament for five hours.

According to a parliamentary bylaw, signatures of the one-fifth of the deputies in Parliament are necessary to call an urgent parliamentary session, but for the session to begin in Parliament's General Assembly, one-third of the deputies (184) should be in attendance.

Although the CHP's proposal is supported by the BDP, the total number of the deputies of these two parties does not reach 184, which means that the session will be closed without even starting.