Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has drafted an eight-article parliamentary motion for a general amnesty that will be proposed in October despite the explicit objection of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the state-owned Anadolu news agency reported on Sunday.
According to the report, the general amnesty excludes inmates who were convicted of membership in the Gülen movement or the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as well as child abusers and perpetrators of fatal domestic violence.
MHP Deputy Chairman Feti Yıldız said their primary concern was to reintroduce these convicts to society, adding that they had reviewed all the general amnesty bills passed by parliament since the founding of the republic.
“In our bill there are reductions in sentences, amnesties and reprieves. While caring about the families of inmates, we should also consider the victims of such crimes,” Yıldız told the agency.
“There should be consensus on the issue. We don’t want to pardon those who are chronic felons.”
Yıldız also said they need the support of other parties to pass the general amnesty.
The MHP currently has 50 parliamentary seats, while the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has 290. With 600 members in the Turkish parliament a motion requires more than 300 votes to pass.
During the campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli repeatedly proposed a general amnesty for the prison population, including notorious mafia bosses Alaattin Çakıcı and Kürşat Yılmaz.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, however, rejected his ally’s proposal several times before the election.