Turkey’s Davutoğlu Launches Campaign for Return of Parliamentary System

Turkish parliament | Asharq Al-Awsat
Turkish parliament | Asharq Al-Awsat
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Turkey’s Davutoğlu Launches Campaign for Return of Parliamentary System

Turkish parliament | Asharq Al-Awsat
Turkish parliament | Asharq Al-Awsat

Turkey’s former prime minister and current leader of the opposition Future Party Ahmet Davutoğlu has launched a campaign to unify Turkish parties in the pursuit of serving the country and returning to a parliamentary system while scrapping the presidential system.

Davutoğlu stressed the need to return to a strong parliamentary system as the current presidential system has shown clear fragility in running state affairs.

This coincided with the Turkish presidency's request to lift the immunity of dozens of opposition MPs in parliament for trial.

Davutoğlu published video footage on social media in which he stresses that Turkey’s future resides in a parliamentary system.

On the other hand, the Turkish presidency asked the parliament to lift the immunity of 30 opposition deputies, including 21 deputies from the opposition Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP).

The move is in preparation for the lawmakers being tried on charges mostly related to supporting terrorism.

HDP lawmakers and members have long faced pressure from the government.

In other news, an Istanbul court has banned access to several news reports on Turkey’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, saying such articles aimed to shift focus from the country’s “success in the fight against coronavirus, despite many European countries failing.”

“The access ban on 273 online articles, including (Cumhuriyet’s) report, ‘Outlaw in the Bosporus’ about the Presidency Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, is full of ‘creativity’,” Reporters Without Borders Turkey said in a tweet.

The articles aim “to conduct and direct society with unproven claims”, “to disrupt or obscure our country’s success in the fight against the global coronavirus pandemic despite many European countries’ failure”, and “to discredit the success of our nation and our state in the fight by diverting attention elsewhere via a regular event,” according to the court order.



Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
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Pro-Palestinian Activists Due to Appear Court after Damaging Planes at RAF Base

Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett
Demonstrators look on during a protest after British lawmakers voted to ban pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, outside Downing Street in London, Britain, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Four people are set to appear in a London courtroom on Thursday over charges connected with an incident in which pro-Palestinian protesters damaged two Royal Air Force planes with red paint and crowbars.

The charges come after the group Palestine Action said two of its members entered RAF Brize Norton on June 20 and used electric scooters to approach two Voyager jets used for air-to-air refueling. The protesters used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray paint into the planes’ jet engines and caused further damage with crowbars, according to the group, which released video footage of the incident, The Associated Press said.

The four, all between the ages of 22 and 35, are charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the UK, counter-terror police said in a statement. The Crown Prosecution Service will argue that that the offenses have a “terrorist connection,” police said.

Palestine Action has claimed responsibility for a series of incidents targeting Israeli defense contractors in the UK and other sites linked to the war in Gaza. Following the incident at RAF Brize Norton, the government introduced legislation to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organization. The measure means it will be a criminal offense to belong to or support the group, with a maximum of 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action rejects that assertion, saying its protests are designed to end international support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

Planes from Brize Norton, 70 miles (112 kilometers) northwest of London, regularly fly to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, Britain’s main air base for operations in the Middle East.