After Turkey’s parliament stripped Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu of his status of membership of the parliament, Gergerlioğlu protested against the decision and stated that he has been elected with the votes of people and he does not recognise the decision.
HDP’s MP for Kocaeli, Gergerlioğlu launched a vigil in the Turkish parliament on 17 March and he shared a video message from parliament today. Gergerlioğlu did not leave parliament during the night of 17 March and he stated that he slept “on a sofa” in the meeting room of the HDP in parliament.
In a video message he recorded himself and shared on his Twitter account, Gergerlioğlu said he will continue “to resist”.
‘I have been chosen by my nation and I expect their support’
“My status as a member of parliament was stripped yesterday, but I chose to resist. We were here at the parliament with my friends. I did not leave the parliament: my other MP friends accompanied me and I got to sleep here on that sofa in our meeting room”, Gergerlioğlu said.
Gergerlioğlu also stated that they are resisting for the will of the people and democracy. He appealed to people to support his protest. “I have been chosen by my nation and I expect their support. I definitely will not leave here until the decision of the Constitutional Court is announced”, he said.
‘We have to show total resistance’
Gergerlioğlu shared his perspectives regarding the recent lawsuit submitted by the chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals to the Constitutional Court that has sought to permanently shut down the HDP: “This means that it is a total attack against our party, so we have to show total resistance. I want to underline that all these attempts to shut down the party or stripping one’s membership will not be successful”, he said.