Following the final court verdict of 2.5 year prison sentence for Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Siirt MP Besime Konca, she has been stripped of parliament membership during the first session of the new term in the Turkish parliament on Tuesday.

Five deputies of the HDP have been stripped of parliament membership so far; the previous ones being the party’s former co-chair and Van MP Figen Yüksekdağ, Amed MP Nursel Aydoğan, Şırnak MP Faysal Sarıyıldız and Van MP Tuğba Hezer Öztürk.

Parliament membership of Konca, Yüksekdağ and Aydoğan were revoked due to prison sentences, while Sarıyıldız and Hezer Öztürk lost their seats in the parliament due to “lack of attendance”.

With the ouster of the five deputies, the number of HDP seats in the parliament fell from 59 to 54.

HDP Women's Assembly Spokesperson and MP for Siirt, Besime Konca had been jailed on December 13, 2016 and released on May 3, 2017 after a hearing at Batman 2nd Heavy Penal Court.

Following her release, Batman 3rd Heavy Penal Court issued an arrest warrant for her after approving an appeal against her release. Konca was therewith detained and then jailed once again on May 29, 26 days after her release from prison. She was then released from prison on July 29.

On July 13, the Regional Court of Antep has approved the 2.5 year jail sentence sought for Konca for “spreading terrorist propaganda”.