Turkish member of Parliament for the left-wing political party Peoples’ Democratic Party Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu reacts after he was dismissed following a vote at the Turkish Parliament in Ankara March 17, 2021. — AFP picANKARA, March 31 — Turkey’s top court today refused to hear an appeal by a leading pro-Kurdish lawmaker against his expulsion from parliament over terror charges linked to a social media post.
Gergerlioglu has irritated President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government by shining the light on human rights violations that go ignored by the mainstream Turkish media, including strip searches of women in detention. Turkey’s top court is also due to decide today whether to accept an indictment to ban the HDP over its alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party .