Turkish parliament convenes to vote on lifting MPs' immunity

Baku. 20 May. REPORT.AZ/ Members of the Turkish parliament convened on Friday for the final round of voting that will seek to make a temporary constitutional change which would remove some lawmakers' immunity from prosecution and facing trials, Report informs referring to the Turkish media.

In the second round, the first clause of the bill on removing MP immunities accepted in Turkish parliament with 373 votes. Meanwhile, 138 voted against the bill, 8 abstained, 3 votes declared unvalid and 9 empty votes were counted.

The Grand National Assembly met at 10.00 a.m. local time under Speaker İsmail Kahraman to vote on introducing two temporary amendments into the constitution. Meanwhile, the main opposition People's Republican Party (CHP), marched out from the parliament in protest of recent remarks by Speaker İsmail Kahraman on the constitution.

The clause could remove protection from prosecution of 138 members of the Grand National Assembly's 550 deputies.The targeted lawmakers, who come from all four parliamentary parties, have had a total of 667 criminal proceedings lodged against them. The main aim of the bill is to prosecute deputies with links to terror, especially to PKK terror organization.

The two amendments will be voted on separately and together in the 550-seat parliament.

Friday's measure will need at least 330 votes to be approved by parliament, before going on to a public referendum. If 367 deputies or more vote yes, then it will be presented to the president for approval.