YEREVAN, MARCH 16, ARMENPRESS. The process of depriving Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers from their mandates in the Turkish parliament began to impact the functioning of the parliament’s committees.

After MPs Nursel Aydogan, Ahmet Yildirimn and Ibrahim Ayhan were stripped from their mandates the number of HDP lawmakers in the budgetary affairs committee reduced to three – Garo Paylan, Ertugrul Kyurkcu and Bedia Ertan. The seats have been allocated to the Nationalist Movement Party, Gazete Duvar reported.

Ethnic Armenian MP of Turkey Garo Paylan, a member of the budgetary affairs committee, expressed discontent over the matter. During a session of the committee Paylan said that Ahmet Yildirimn, the former faction leader of HDP who worked in the committee for 1,5 years, was stripped of his mandate two weeks ago for calling President Erdogan a “padishah offal” .

Paylan also mentioned Ibrahim Ayhan, who was deprived of his mandate simply because of a social media post.

“We are representing the people’s will here. If you are depriving lawmakers who represent the will of a part of the people on such fictitious grounds, know that one day the same will happen with your lawmakers”, he said.

Addressing the ruling AK party chairman of the committee, Paylan mockingly mentioned that he is simply amazed how quickly the door name plates were removed from the offices of their lawmakers.

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan