Arrests of HDP lawmakers violate constitution: CHP

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has said the arrests of Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputies, including two co-chairs of the Kurdish issue-focused party, violate Turkey's constitution, while also calling for the release of arrested daily Cumhuriyet journalists.
"Arresting lawmakers before legal processes and verdicts are finalized is against the constitution and Constitutional Court rulings. This unlawful practice should be ended," a written statement issued by the CHP's Party Assembly said on Nov. 7. 

Nine HDP deputies, including co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, were arrested on Nov. 4 over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The CHP said the recent deterioration in democracy gives the Turkish people the "right to democratically resist." 

"The [presidential] palace and the AKP [Justice and Development Party] executives who aided and harbored FETÖ [Fethullahist Terror Organization], the PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party] and ISIL [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] terrorist organizations are major threats to the survival and democracy of our country," read the statement.

"This threat gives our citizens the right to resist democratically. All citizens who love their country and who believe in democracy and the need to protect basic rights and liberties should unite to defeat this major threat to our republic," it added. 

The CHP Party Assembly gathered in an extraordinary session on Nov. 6 to shape a road map forward, following the arrests of daily Cumhuriyet journalists and HDP lawmakers. 

"The AKP has sidelined social consensus and continued its attacks against democratic, secular and social principles of the rule of law and...