Turkish parliament revokes seats of 3 opposition MPs

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish parliament on Thursday revoked the seats of three opposition party lawmakers.

One of the lawmakers is from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and two others are from opposition People's Democratic Party (HDP).

The final judgements of the judicial proceedings on CHP lawmaker Enis Beberoglu and HDP lawmakers Leyla Guven and Musa Farisogullari were read out in the general assembly.

Guven from the southeastern Hakkari province was sentenced to six years and three months by a provincial court for being a member of an "armed terror organization".

Farisogullari from the southeastern Diyarbakir province was sentenced to nine years for being a member of an "armed terror organization."

Berberoglu, an Istanbul lawmaker, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison for leaking state secrets to a newspaper in June 2017. The sentence was later affirmed by an appeals court.

He was found guilty of leaking footage to a journalist showing MIT trucks being stopped en route to Syria in January 2014.

In that incident, gendarmerie officers affiliated with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) stopped the MIT trucks on their way to Syria, despite government orders to let them pass.

FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated a defeated coup on July 15, 2016, leaving 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Following the decision, CHP now holds 138 seats in the parliament, HDP 58 seats, the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party 291 seats, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 49, Good (IYI) Party 37, Turkish Workers Party two, independents six seats, while Democracy and Progress (Remedy) Party, Democrat Party (DP), Grand Unity Party (BBP), Saadet (Felicity) Party, and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) hold one each.