Lawyers for Hatip Dicle who was last week stripped of his mandate by Turkey's Supreme Election Board (YSK) have appealed the board's decision at the Constitutional Court based on a constitutional provision which says no authority other than Parliament can strip a deputy of his or her mandate.

Dicle's lawyer and the head of the Diyarbakýr Bar Association, Emin Aktar, said in a television interview that Dicle earned the status of deputy on the evening of the June 12 elections and that the authority to revoke this status lays with Parliament, according to Article 84 of the Constitution. He said according to the Constitution the YSK should have delivered the court ruling on Dicle to Parliament and Parliament should have decided on Dicle's mandate.

Article 84 of the Constitution says, “The loss of membership [of a deputy], through a final judicial sentence or deprivation of legal capacity, shall take effect after the final court decision on the matter has been communicated to Turkish Parliament.”

Dicle's lawyers' appeal came after Constitutional Court President Haþim Kýlýç, who last week said in comments on the YSK decision that “they may also have something to say. Let's wait for a few days. Let's see the developments and maybe we may also have something to say”.