Turkey's new immunity bill designed to 'destroy Kurdish party'

Turkish MPs have approved the first step of a controversial new bill which would strip dozens of deputies of their parliamentary immunity.

Pro-Kurdish MPs believe the law is directly aimed at driving them out of the legislature, saying it is meant to drive them out of parliament.

A total of 348 deputies supported the bill, in the 550-seat parliament, with 155 voting against the measure, parliamentary Vice President Ahmet Aydin announced after the debate and vote.

The result opens the way for a second round of discussions and a final vote on Friday.

The bill has already led to fights in parliament, as tensions reach fever pitch.

Under current Turkish law, members of parliament have the right to full immunity from prosecution. If the new bill passes, it would lift the immunity of 130 deputies from all parties whose dossiers have been sent to the parliament speaker.

But the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) says the bill is essentially a move to expel its MPs from parliament.

HDP lawmakers are particularly vulnerable to prosecution on allegations of links or even verbal support for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting a renewed insurgency against the Turkish state.

"What this motion seeks to destroy is the HDP in parliament," party co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, both of whom could face prosecution, said in a letter to European MPs.

Constitution

Should a number of HDP deputies leave parliament, it would ease the way for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to realise his dream of changing the constitution to create a presidential system in Turkey.

The HDP said the bill could lead to the prosecution of 50 HDP deputies out of its total contingent of 59.

"If successful, this coup would be a most crucial step for Erdogan to replace Turkey's parliamentary democracy... with an absolutist presidential system," the HDP's co-leaders said.

Should the bill become law, it raises the prospect that the likes of Demirtas and Yuksekdag - already the target of criminal investigations - could go on trial on charges of making "terrorist propaganda" for the PKK and even face time in jail.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) needs to win 367 votes in parliament - a two-thirds majority - to push the legislation through directly at Friday's second-vote stage.

A three-fifths majority - 330 votes - would be enough to call a referendum on the issue.

Secret ballot

The AKP has 317 seats in parliament and is hoping to enjoy support for the motion from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which has 40 seats and despises the HDP.

But the MHP is itself in turmoil after its poor performance in November elections, with several figures trying to challenge longtime chief Devlet Bahceli, and the AKP may also need support from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

The ballot is secret and some commentators have suggested some AKP deputies who could risk prosecution might also dissent from the party line.

Bulent Turan, the head of the AKP's faction in parliament, said he would prefer that parliament resolved the issue itself but emphasised the party had "no fear" of a referendum should the need arise.

He denied that the motion was specifically aimed at the HDP. "If some people within the AKP did something wrong then they will be judged," he said.