Turkish opposition ends parliamentary boycott

Jul 11, 2011, 14:28 GMT

Ankara - Turkey's main opposition party resolved a dispute with the government Monday that had prevented its lawmakers from taking the parliamentary oath of office following last month's elections.

The 135 members of the Republican People's Party (CHP) began taking their oaths in the 550-seat parliament in the afternoon, after three hours of negotiations with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdgogan.

While CHP lawmakers had attended the swearing-in ceremony on June 28, they did not take the oath of office, a symbolic move in reaction to court decisions a week earlier not to release two of the party's members from detention in a high-profile trial.

The two CHP lawmakers are charged with membership of Ergenekon, an alleged nationalist network accused of plotting to bring down the government.

Previously, those elected to parliament while awaiting trial or on trial had been released and allowed to take their seats. But judges had declined to free the CHP's members - journalist Mustafa Balbay and medical professor Mehmet Haberal.

The text of the CHP-AKP agreement did not explain how the problem of the two detainees would be resolved, but it said the law should be interpreted to 'enlarge freedom.'

A second opposition party, Kurdish nationalist Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), has boycotted the new parliament since the national elections board ruled that its member Hatip Dicle had to forfeit his seat because of a conviction for supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Parliament continued to function in the absence of the two parties, but the fact that 30 per cent of the legislators could not take part in debates reduced its credibility.

President Abdullah Gul, who had repeatedly called for settlement of the oath-taking dispute, welcomed Monday's agreement saying 'when the doors of dialogue are opened, everything can be solved.'

After the agreement with the CHP, Erdogan urged the BDP to enter into negotiations aimed at enabling its 35 members to take the oath.

However, BDP member Hatip Kaplan told NTV his party had not been invited to join the CHP-AKP negotiations and said the boycott would continue.

The new parliament's priority is to rewrite the constitution, a document written under the military junta of 1980-83. In the NTV interview, Kaplan warned there would be consequences if the constitution were to be rewritten without input from the BDP. Kurds argue that the constitution pays no heed to their language and culture, and this is known to be a factor in the PKK insurgency.