TURKISH police seized Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu from his parliamentary sit-in today, four days after he was stripped of his status and immunity.

Mr Gergerlioglu began an occupation protest after his MP status was revoked, a decision linked to his 2018 conviction for “spreading terrorist propaganda” by retweeting an article about a call for peace talks issued by the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail at the time, though he was released after questioning today.

Police acted following calls from Devlet Bahceli of the fascist National Movement Party to remove him, describing him as a “separatist” and a “dagger in the great Turkish nation’s heart.”