Turkey's newly elected members of parliament are taking their seats in Ankara today in a swearing-in ceremony overshadowed by legal challenges to opposition candidates.
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which won 135 seats in the 550-seat legislature, said it would boycott the oath-taking ceremony to protest against a bar on two elected candidates who are on trial, accused of being part of a plot to bring down Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
Thirty-six candidates who ran as independents from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) have said they would also boycott the ceremony after the Election Commission disqualified one of its candidates because of a past conviction for spreading "terrorist propaganda."
Taking CHP and BDP together, more than 30 percent of candidates elected in the June 12 vote are expected to boycott today's swearing in.
compiled from agency reports
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which won 135 seats in the 550-seat legislature, said it would boycott the oath-taking ceremony to protest against a bar on two elected candidates who are on trial, accused of being part of a plot to bring down Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
Thirty-six candidates who ran as independents from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) have said they would also boycott the ceremony after the Election Commission disqualified one of its candidates because of a past conviction for spreading "terrorist propaganda."
Taking CHP and BDP together, more than 30 percent of candidates elected in the June 12 vote are expected to boycott today's swearing in.
compiled from agency reports
