Toptan seeks a formula for deputies
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 18, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan said his statements on the court’s request for the deposition of five pro-Kurdish deputies on their alleged links to terrorism have been misunderstood by both the deputies and the press.
According to Toptan, after he received the court’s order for the deputies to testify, his staff wrote five notes notifying the deputies and enclosing the court order, the Anatolia news agency reported. Toptan said he did not sign the notes and decided to wait until speaking with the justice minister and the interior minister.
Due to a mistake in the Parliament’s internal bureaucracy, Toptan said, the notes were sent to the five deputies with the signature of the general secretary. This error, the speaker added, led some newspapers, and the deputies themselves, to criticize him for not supporting the Parliament members.
Toptan said that a related article of the Constitution, concerning criminal acts committed before gaining parliamentary immunity, is being presented in the media as if it was his own point of view. The speaker said he is talking to the justice minister and experts on criminal law to try and work out a way to resolve the situation. He emphasized that he would not let deputies be arrested in the Parliament, as it happened to other Kurdish deputies in 1994.
In a time where many positive arguments are being made, Toptan added, he is aware of what negative results such a development would bring. "Whoever comes up with a solution, I am open to it in the name of the Parliament," said Toptan, who asked for common sense to be used to resolve the issue.
Due to a mistake in the Parliament’s internal bureaucracy, Toptan said, the notes were sent to the five deputies with the signature of the general secretary. This error, the speaker added, led some newspapers, and the deputies themselves, to criticize him for not supporting the Parliament members.
Toptan said that a related article of the Constitution, concerning criminal acts committed before gaining parliamentary immunity, is being presented in the media as if it was his own point of view. The speaker said he is talking to the justice minister and experts on criminal law to try and work out a way to resolve the situation. He emphasized that he would not let deputies be arrested in the Parliament, as it happened to other Kurdish deputies in 1994.
In a time where many positive arguments are being made, Toptan added, he is aware of what negative results such a development would bring. "Whoever comes up with a solution, I am open to it in the name of the Parliament," said Toptan, who asked for common sense to be used to resolve the issue.