Ankara, March 19 Turkey has rejected international criticism over the removal of a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) from his parliamentary seat and seeking to shut it down.
In a statement on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry in Ankara urged the international community not to "intervene" in the Turkish judiciary, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Ministry said that all should respect the ongoing judicial process after the US and the European Union (EU) condemned Turkey for its move.
Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu was removed from the seat on Wednesday after an appeals court upheld his conviction on "terrorist propaganda" charges over a social media post.
Hours later, a public prosecutor filed the indictment at the Constitutional Court, demanding the pro-Kurdish party be dissolved over its alleged links to outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and seeking a political ban on 687 members of the HDP for five years.
The ruling Justice and Development Party and its political ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have long portrayed the HDP as the political front of PKK.
The MHP has been urging the government and the judiciary for the closure of the pro-Kurdish party in the past few months.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU, has been rebelling against the Ankara government for over 30 years, which has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.
( With inputs from IANS )
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