Members of the European Parliament have signed a joint declaration voicing deep concerns about the recent amendment on the lifting of the legislative immunity of 129 members of parliament out of 550.

The statement, titled “Silencing Opposition is Not The Way To Deal With Problems” pointed out that; “The way it is presented in the public opinion by the government representatives proves that this bill is clearly targeting members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP – Halkların Demokratik Partisi) where 46 out of 59 MPs will be affected. Opposition is an integral part of democracies and a core value of the European Union. Silencing democratically elected opposition MPs for their political statements is the obstruction of parliament and against democratic principles.

Excluding democratically elected members of the parliament is not the way to deal with the Kurdish problem. On the contrary, if adopted, this bill will further aggravate already intense conflict in the Kurdish region (South-East) of Turkey.”

The joint declaration ended with a call to members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey not to support this amendment, which -it underlined- will move Turkey away from its EU path.

The signatories are;

Elmar Brok - EPP - Germany

Kati Piri -S&D - The Netherlands

Gabriele Zimmer - GUE-NGL - Germany

Rebecca Harms - Greens/EFA - Germany

Marie-Christine Vergiat – GUE-NGL - France

Bodil Valero - Greens/EFA - Sweden

Dimitrios Papadimoulis - GUE-NGL - Greece

Alyn Smith - Greens/EFA - Scotland

Ana Gomes - S&D - Portugal

Angel Kapchina - ECR - Bulgaria

Anne-Marie Mineer - GUE-NGL - The Netherlands

Barbara Spinelli - GUE-NGL - Italy

Bart Staes - Greens/EFA - Belgium

Brando Benifei - S&D - Italy

Cornelia Ernst - GUE-NGL - Germany

Costas Mavrides - S&D - Cyprus

Csaba Sogor - EPP - Romania

Curzio Maltese - GUE-NGL - Italy

Demetris Papadakis - S&D - Cyprus

Dennis de Jong - GUE-NGL - The Netherlands

Davos Skrlec - Greens/EFA - Croatia

Ernest Maragall - Greens/EFA - Spain

Ernest Urtasun - Greens/EFA - Spain

Eugen Freund - S&D - Austria

Fabio De Masi - GUE-NGL - Germany

Frank Engel - EPP - Luxembourg

Javier Couso Permuy - GUE-NGL - Spain

José Bové - Greens/EFA - France

Josef Weidenholzer - S&D - Austria

Josep-Maria Terricabras - Greens/EFA - Catalonia

Josu Juaristi - GUE-NGL - Basque country

Jude Kirton-Darling - S&D - UK

Karima Delli -Greens/EFA - France

Karoline Graswander-Hainz - S&D - Austria

Kostadinka Kuneva - GUE-NGL - Greece

Kostas Chrysogonos - GUE-NGL - Greece

Liadh Ni Riada - GUE-NGL - Ireland

Lynn Boylan - GUE-NGL - Ireland

Malin Björk - GUE-NGL - Sweden

Margrete Auken - Greens/EFA - Denmark

Marina Albiol Guzmán - GUE-NGL - Spain

Marisa MATIAS - GUE-NGL - Portugal

Martian Anderson - GUE-NGL - Ireland

Martina Michels - GUE-NGL - Germany

Matt Carthy - GUE-NGL - Ireland

Max Andersson - Greens/EFA - Sweden

Merja Kyllönen - GUE-NGL - Finland

Michel Reimon - Greens/EFA - Austria

Michele Rivasi - Greens/EFA - France

Monika Vana - Greens/EFA - Austria

Neoklis Sylikiotis - GUE-NGL - Cyprus

Nessa Childers - S&D - Ireland

Nikolaos Chountis - GUE-NGL - Greece

Paloma LOPEZ BERMEJO - GUE-NGL - Spain

Pascal Durand - Greens/EFA - France

Patrick Le Hyaric - GUE-NGL - France

Petras Austrevicius - ALDE - Lithuania

Rina Ronja Kari - GUE-NGL - Denmark

Sabine Lösing - GUE-NGL - Germany

Sergio Cofferati - S&D - Italy

Ska Keller - Greens/EFA - Germany

Soraya Post - S&D - Sweden

Stelios Kouloglou - GUE-NGL - Greece

Tania Gonzalez Penas - GUE-NGL - Spain

Ulrike Lunacek - Greens/EFA - Austria

Xabier BENITO ZILUAGA - GUE-NGL - Spain

Yannick Jadot - Greens/EFA - France