Ercan Karakas, honorary president of the Social Democracy Foundation (SODEV), has reacted to attempts by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) to have the immunity of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) MPs lifted:
"Democracy includes ideas which you do not like. Just because you do not agree, does not mean you can forbid them. The MHP is showing its own understanding of democracy. As long as violence is not used, all thoughts must be represented in parliament."

"PKK's strawmen" 

At a parliamentary group meeting of the MHP on 13 November, party chair Devlet Bahceli had called the DTP MPs the "PKK's strawmen in parliament" and had demanded that "immunity be lifted where crimes against the state were concerned".

MHP MPs yesterday signed a suggestion for constitutional amendment concerning " Immediate lifting of parliamentarians' immunity for crimes targeting the state's and nation's inseparable unity". The change would concern Article 83 of the constitution. In order for a bill of change to be brought before parliament, there need to be 184 signatures, but there are only 70 MHP MPs. The party is thus going to ask for support among MPs from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP).

"Antidemocratic initiative" 

Karakas believes that immunity needs to be reconsidered generally. "But we do not want anyone to be tried because of political beliefs; immunity also protects people from being tried for other offenses. This also has to be changed. I am against banning the freedom of expression."

Karakas evaluated the MHP's initiative as antidemocratic, and further argued that the DTP MPs had not committed any crimes threatening the "inseparability of the nation".

DEP case shows ensuing damage 

He pointed to the lifting of the immunity of MPs of the four Democracy Party (DEP), among them Leyla Zana, in 1994:" At that time I was also in parliament. We tried to prevent it, but were not successful."

Lifting the immunity of the DTP parliamentarians, would, so Karatas, be a great mistake: "We have great need of the DTP presence in parliament if we want to solve the problems peacefully. If their immunity is lifted, if they are left out of parliament, if they are punished, then the MPs will suffer, Turkey's international reputation will suffer, and society will hurt. In short, there would be irreparable damage done."

Up to today, forty MPs have had their immunity liften, including the DEP MPs, Cetin Altan, a writer and Turkish Workers' Party MP, and Hasan Mezarci, a former Welfare Party MP.

Former State Minister Esat Kiratlioglu has also evaluated the lifting of immunity as dangerous as long as there was no proof of the validity of accusations. "Lifting the immunity of the DEP MPs was not useful. On the contrary, it caused more problems." (EÖ/NZ/AG)