Türkiye's Parliament on Thursday revoked the seat of a deputy from the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) due to absenteeism. The Parliament's General Assembly voted for the expulsion based on earlier recommendations from a joint commission.
Semra Güzel lost her seat with a vote of 330-42 in the 550-seat Parliament. She was arrested in a joint operation carried out by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and Istanbul Police Department when she was on her way to northwestern Edirne province, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in September.
Güzel, carrying a fake passport, was with an individual, identified with initials A.G., who spread PKK terrorist propaganda and a known human trafficker, Soylu added.
In March, Parliament revoked legislative immunity for Güzel, a HDP deputy from the southeastern Diyarbakır province. While 327 lawmakers voted in favor of revoking Güzel's immunity, 52 legislators opposed the motion.
Earlier this year, photos of Güzel with PKK terrorist Volkan Bora were widely circulated on Turkish media. Bora was killed in 2017 by the Turkish military in Türkiye's southeastern Adıyaman province.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
HDP currently faces a legal process seeking a ban on the party due to its links with the PKK. There is no difference between the HDP and the PKK terrorist group, the chief public prosecutor of Türkiye's Supreme Court of Appeals said in an indictment, as he filed a lawsuit for a blanket ban on the pro-PKK party in March 2021.
In the indictment, Bekir Şahin, the chief public prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals, accused HDP leaders and members of acting in a way that flouts democratic and universal rules of law, colluding with the PKK and affiliated groups, and aiming to destroy and eliminate the indivisible integrity of the nation.