BREAKING NEWS

Turkish PM backs lifting Kurd MPs immunity from prosecution

ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he was in favor of lifting the immunity from prosecution of Kurdish deputies accused of links to militants, a move which would likely fuel tensions in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
The comments came just a week after hundreds of militants ended a hunger strike in jail in response to an appeal from their leader and the government signaled it was open to talks to end a conflict which has killed more than 40,000 people.
Kurdish members of parliament are the subject of frequent investigations by prosecutors but deputies are immune from prosecution while they are in office, unless the assembly votes in favor of lifting their immunity.
Reporters asked Erdogan about incidents where Kurdish MPs had reportedly clashed verbally with Turkish security forces, but he said he did not want to talk about individual incidents.