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Roundup: Domestic turbulence in Turkey strains ties with West

Xinhua, November 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Nine pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) officials, the third biggest party in the Turkish Parliament, were detained on Saturday, which triggered the western countries' alarm on democracy in Turkey, a member of the NATO and candidate to European Union.

A day earlier, Turkish authorities arrested HDP's co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, and seven lawmakers in a probe that was launched against the party's deputies over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The crackdown on pro-Kurdish HDP deputies was set in motion over May, when the immunity of the representatives were lifted by a parliamentary vote, a move strongly supported ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The trigger for these arrests was the HDP lawmakers' refusal to show up in court after prosecutors called them to testify as part of a sweeping investigation of the deputies' links to terrorism.

The HDP lawmakers are obliged to respond to legal summons, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Friday, adding "those who come to power by elections but prefer to embrace terrorism will naturally be held accountable by the law."

HDP co-chairs and lawmakers are the latest arrests after co-mayors of predominately Kurdish southeastern Diyarbakir were detained. The government also silenced more than a dozen pro-Kurdish media outlets.

The move against Kurdish politicians came in the heat of detention of journalists and writers from the renowned opposition daily Cumhuriyet.

Early on Oct. 31, executives and columnists of Cumhuriyet , one of Turkey's oldest a newspapers, were detained in a series of raids after prosecutors initiated a probe against them on "terrorism" charges.

The politically whipped up demands to reinstate the death penalty in Turkey makes matters worse in democratic life of the country. The European Union member states alarmed over regression in democratic life in Turkey which has been negotiated for accession to the Union.

"We expect Turkey to safeguard its parliamentary democracy, including respect for human rights and the rule of law," EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and Commissioner Johannes Hahn said in a written statement on Friday after the detentions of the HDP lawmakers.

"With this last high profile string of detentions, Turkish authorities are not just pushing Turkey further away from democracy, they are also turning their backs on the values, principles, norms and rules underpinning EU-Turkey relations," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said.

The United States, an ally of the NATO member Turkey, also expressed "deep concern" over the Turkish detentions of opposition members of parliament.

The arrests drew swift condemnation from the EU and leaders of the member states and the US officials called their Turkish interlocutors one after the other in order to express their grave concerns. Germany and Denmark summoned the Turkish envoys following the detention of senior Kurdish lawmakers.

Turkey's democracy is under question as the Turkish government uses excessive authorities after a coup attempt in July 15. Granted by the state of emergency, the government has detained or suspended more than 110,000 officials under a decree law.

"All these developments in the wake of the coup attempt take place under the shadow of the debates about shifting from a parliamentary political system to an executive presidential one through a new constitution, as has long been targeted by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan," Murat Yetkin, columnist in local Hurriyet Daily News, wrote in his column on Nov. 5.

The government has long been pursuing a constitutional amendment for change to presidential system, but the ruling party needs support of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) votes at the parliament to go to a referendum.

The AKP and the MHP has been in talks for the amendment, as the MHP pledges conditional support for the ruling party.

The MHP leader wants to introduce death penalty in Turkey and objects a settlement process with the Kurdish militants. Endit