ANKARA: Turkey’s parliament has voted to strip two legislators from the country’s pro-Kurdish party of their parliamentary seat for absenteeism.

The move comes amid what critics say is the government’s widening crackdown on opposition and dissenting voices. A dozen legislators from the Democratic People’s Party, or HDP, have been arrested on terror-related charges, including the party’s co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.

The latter also lost her parliamentary seat earlier this year.

Legislators voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to oust Faysal Sariyildiz and Tugba Hezer from parliament, a move that reduced HDP’s seats in the 550-member parliament to 55.

HDP legislators protested the vote by banging on desks, accusing the ruling party of double standards because it didn’t take action against other lawmakers who fail to regularly attend sessions.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2017