Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor has demanded parliamentary immunity be lifted for Sezgin Tanrıkulu, the Republican People’s Party (CHP) MP and human rights activist, over his remarks on the allegations of chemical weapons use by the Turkish state, reported Mezopotamya News Agency.
“I watched the footage of the alleged use of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons are a crime against humanity. I will submit my parliamentary question on the accuracy of the allegations,” said Tanrıkulu in his tweet he shared on 20 October.
Following the social media post of the MP, the Parliamentary Crime Investigation Bureau had ordered a summary about Sezgin Tanrıkulu.
The summary claimed that Tanrıkulu’s words “are in line with the strategic goals, the discourse and actions of the PKK”, and claimed that Tanrıkulu produced, “terror propaganda”, reported Bianet.
Based on the summary, Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor has demanded Tanrıkulu’s parliamentary immunity to be lifted.
Following the reactions, Faik Öztrak, the spokesperson of CHP criticised Tanrıkulu saying that the Turkish army has a clean background and that Turkish army has not used chemical weapons.
The allegations on the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish state has intensified since People’s Defence Forces (HPG) published a video in October allegedly showing Kurdish fighters exposed to chemical weapons.
Following the release of the footages, Turkey’s top human rights advocate, the chair of the Turkish Medical Association (TBB) Şebnem Korur Fincancı was arrested on 26 October over her comments around the allegations of Turkey’s use of chemical weapons.
Though the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) reports it has enough evidence to warrant further investigation on allegations, Turkish Defence Minister, Hulusi Akar, denied that Turkish armed forces used chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters in cross-border operations.
