TURKEY ISNT A DEMOCRACY YET--Paylan to Take His Case to European Court of Human Rights

Garo Paylan

ISTANBUL—Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) will take his case against the Turkish legislature to the European Court of Human Rights after Turkey’s Constitutional Court rejected his appeal, reported Agos.

Paylan was barred from participating in three consecutive session of the Turkish Parliament after he called the events of 1915 Genocide during parliamentary deliberations on Turkey’s new Constitution. He appealed the decision to the Constitutional Court, which rejected his case.

“I wish the court of my country would have solved the problem. If the court would have issued a verdict on eliminating that decision which is a blow to democracy, the situation would be different. In this case I am going to appeal to the ECHR”, Paylan said.

At a parliament session on January 13, Paylan’s speech was interrupted because he used the word “genocide.” The transcript of his speech was subsequently deleted from the parliamentary minutes and he was banned from the legislature for three sessions.

Garo Paylan appealed to the Constitutional Court on the grounds of “violation of parliamentary immunity and abolishment of freedom of expression” and he demanded the decision is reversed. The Court rejected Garo Paylan’s demand on February 27.