Turkey has warned 130 people, including two members of parliament and US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen that they would have their citizenship revoked if they do not return to the country to stand trial by September, according to a document published, on Monday.
The list was published in the government’s Official Gazette as a follow-up to a decree issued in January under the ongoing state of emergency.
The two parliamentarians are Faysal Sariyildiz and Tugba Ozturk from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
Eleven HDP members of parliament are in jail, including leader Selahattin Demirtas, along with thousands of party members.
The party is under pressure from the government which accuses it of links to Kurdish militants, charges the HDP denies.
The party says it is being targeted as it opposed President Recep Erdogan and his recent efforts to expand his powers.
The government accused Gulen of orchestrating last year’s abortive coup and his pushed the US to extradite him.
Gulen has denied links to the putsch attempt by a members of the military.
Some 50,000 people are in jail in relation to the coup and more than 120,000 people have been purged from jobs in the civil service and armed forces.
Turkey imposed a strict state-of-emergency after the coup, giving the government sweeping powers to rule by decree.
According to Turkey’s constitution, people may lose citizenship if they commit an act deemed incompatible with loyalty to the motherland. (NAN)