ANKARA (AA) - September 5, 2012 - Turkish prime minister has said his government would move for the repealing of legislative immunity of a number of lawmakers from the Peace and Democratic Party, or BDP.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks on Wednesday that hint the immunity repeal were in response to a video footage showing a cosy encounter between nine BDP lawmakers and a group of PKK terrorists last month.
The video footage showed lawmakers hugging the terrorists and engaging in a warm conversation with them at a roadblock near the Semdinli town of the southeastern province of Hakkari.
"We have told the judiciary what needs to be said. And we will do what is needed at the parliament," Erdogan told a meeting of its ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
A local prosecutor has already launched a probe over the video footage and the Turkish parliament's approval is required upon a court order to have the immunity of a lawmaker in Turkey repealed.
PKK has recently stepped up attacks on security forces.
A string of assaults on military checkpoints in the southeastern Sirnak province last Sunday killed 10 Turkish troops.
Also last month, 10 people were killed in a car bomb attack in the southeastern city of Gaziantep.
Turkish premier says Assad regime is "terrorist state"
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said the Assad regime had become "a terrorist state," accusing the Syrian administration of massacring its own people.
"They are no different from the separatist terror organization in our country. The regime in Syria is now a terrorist state. The number of those who are killed in Syria almost reached 30 thousand since March [2011], 2,200 of whom are children, and 76 thousand people are missing," Erdogan told a meeting of his Justice and Development Party.
Erdogan blamed the Syrian government forces for carrying out a massacre in Dara'a, killing 300 innocent civilians and he fiercely criticized the international community for remaining "an onlooker to the humanitarian tragedy and killing of Muslims."
Erdogan also said Turkey would continue to welcome Syrian refugees fleeing the violence as the number of the Syrians taking shelter in Turkey had reached nearly 80 thousand.
