Ankara, June 29: Almost a third of Turkish parliamentarians have boycotted their swearing-in ceremony to protest the detention of eight newly-elected lawmakers in connection with an alleged coup plot.
The lawmakers have been detained as part of an investigation into Ergenekon, an alleged nationalist network accused of hatching a plot to bring down the government, DPA reported on Tuesday.
“ We are only against the seizure of our colleagues’ right to take the parliamentary oath, when they have not been convicted and no obstacle was found to their being elected,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said.
Meanwhile, the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) also boycotted the oath-taking ceremony last week.
The two parties claim that the jailed legislators should enjoy parliamentary immunity.
Hundreds of people, including several senior army officers, are in custody over the alleged coup scheme.
——–Agencies