New claims emerge over Turkish MPs' immunity

Allegations surrounding parliamentary immunity have resurfaced in Turkey, with a pro-government newspaper reporting new claims against several lawmakers, including opposition leader Özgür Özel.

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According to the news from Türkiye newspaper, which is known for its closeness to the government, the indictment connected to Antalya included allegations that Özel and some CHP executives received money in exchange for the Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor candidacy.

The newspaper Türkiye reported that parliamentary immunity files for 12 deputies, including Özel, were sent to the Mixed Commission. The report details accusations that Özel and other CHP officials allegedly received money in exchange for mayoral candidacies in Antalya. Further claims suggest Özel and another MP, Veli Ağbaba, influenced delegate votes at the CHP's 38th Ordinary Congress to rig the party leadership election.

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It was claimed in another investigation file, prepared in line with the statements of Özkan Yalım, that Özgür Özel and Veli Ağbaba influenced the will of the delegates who will vote at the CHP's 38th Ordinary Congress and mixed fraud into the general chairmanship election.

Sources within the ruling AKP party indicated that a 'principled decision' was made at the start of the legislative term. This approach generally favors not bringing immunity files to the parliament's agenda, unless they involve crimes that cause public outrage, such as murder, terrorism, or sexual offenses. While AKP sources suggested immunity could be lifted for such serious crimes, they indicated that no action is currently foreseen for the existing files against the CHP deputies.

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According to this, an approach was adopted not to bring files other than crimes that cause public outrage, such as murder, terrorism, and sexual offenses, to the parliament's agenda.