JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Aycan İrmez, a Parliamentary representative from Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was detained on Thursday while participating in an anti-war vigil despite her Parliamentary immunity.

Aycan İrmez, who represents the province of Şırnak in Turkey’s Parliament, traveled to the province’s Mt. Judi to take part in a “human shield” action—a vigil to prevent clashes between soldiers and guerrillas by maintaining a civilian presence. Aycan and five other HDP-affiliated activists were stopped by soldiers on Thursday and detained on claims that they were “ignoring a security zone.”

As a member of Turkey’s Parliament, Aycan is legally immune from arrest or detention. Aycan had presented her Parliamentary credentials to the soldiers, but they proceeded to detain her. Aycan and the five others was taken to a military post. Soldiers released her after verifying her Parliamentary credentials, but the other five were not released.

Aycan objected to her treatment in Turkey’s Parliament yesterday, where she presented a series of questions to Turkey’s Minister of the Interior about her arrest. She noted that her arrest violated Turkey’s constitution, which guarantees that without the Parliament’s consent, “a member of Parliament cannot be detained, questioned, arrested or tried.”

“Is it possible for a government to provide security of the rule of law to its people when it can’t even establish rule of law for Parliamentary representatives in Turkey?” asked Aycan.

(gc/cm)