Turkey's parliament has ratified a bill that will strip some legislators of immunity from prosecution - a move members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) say targets them.
Championed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the bill will amend the constitution, adding a temporary clause to remove immunity from a total of 138 deputies - the exact number who are currently facing criminal investigations.
Currently, 51 opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) members of parliament, 50 HDP MPs, 27 AKP MPs, nine Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) MPs and one independent are facing investigations.
In a secret ballot on Friday, the bill gained the backing of 376 of the 550 parliamentarians.
| Turkey ratifies bill to strip MPs of immunity |
AKP and MHP have been accusing pro-Kurdish MPs of taking advantage of their parliamentary immunity to support the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed group the government accuses of "terrorism".
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously called for members of the HDP to face prosecution, accusing them of being the PKK's political wing.
The HDP strongly denies this claim, accusing the government of engineering this law in an effort to empty parliament of pro-Kurdish voices.
The HDP strongly denies this claim, accusing the government of engineering this law in an effort to empty parliament of pro-Kurdish voices.
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