The Turkish Parliament on Thursday voted for the removal of two pro-Kurdish lawmakers who failed to attend parliamentary sessions for over a year.
Opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Tugba Hezer of the Van Province and Faysal Sariyildiz of the Sirnak Province fled Turkey to Europe in May 2016, shortly after the Turkish Parliament passed a law lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution.
Members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and those of its far-right ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), voted to remove Sariyildiz and Hezer from the Parliament, said Kurdistan 24’s Ankara bureau.
Of the lawmakers present, 324 voted yes while 20 said no.
With the latest removal, the number of the pro-Kurdish party’s lawmakers at the 550-seated Turkish Parliament fell from 59 to 55.