Turkish opposition lawmakers take parliamentary oath

Lawmakers from Turkey's main opposition party took the parliamentary oath Monday, ending a row with the ruling party over the detention of several deputies elected in June's polls from behind bars. The Republican People's Party (CHP), which holds 135 seats in the 550-member legislature, had boycotted the opening ceremony of the parliament in June along with Kurdish deputies in protest at the imprisonment of the elected lawmakers. The CHP and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) issued a joint statement Tuesday, calling on all deputies who had refused to take the oath to be sworn in and participate in parliamentary work. "We believe that all political parties and lawmakers should be in the parliament to fulfill the honoured duty bestowed on them by our nation," the statement said. The Kurdish deputies, who have not shown up at all in parliament since its opening, were not included in the negotiation process between the CHP and the AKP to find a solution over the row. The Kurdish lawmakers have convened in Diyarbakir, the largest city of the restive Kurdish southeast, instead of Ankara since parliament opened. The courts last month refused to free nine opposition lawmakers elected while awaiting trial. Two of them were elected on the CHP ticket, six others were Kurdish activists and one was from the Nationalist Action Party.