World Bulletin/News Desk

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party, or HDP, withdrew on Thursday from a parliamentary commission investigating four former Turkish ministers over graft allegations, the party's group chairwoman Pervin Buldan announced.

The parliamentary commission is currently investigating former Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, former Interior Minister Muammer Guler, former Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis and former Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar.

Buldan stressed that the commission, which will continue for three months, has not progressed on a healthy basis so far and the HDP representatives on the commission have decided to withdraw.

“There were attempts to keep many details from the opposition parties. Even the four former ministers’ assertions were made a fait accompli by the ruling party,” she said.

Ankara’s 7th Magistrate Court imposed on Tuesday a media ban on coverage of the parliamentary commission investigating former Turkish ministers over graft allegations.

Media organizations have thus been prohibited from broadcasting the work of the parliamentary investigating commission until it is finished on Dec. 27.

However, some media organizations and news websites announced that they did not recognize the court decision and will publish details of the commission’s meetings.

Turkey’s main opposition party, the center-left CHP, appealed to a higher court on Thursday to lift the news ban on coverage of the parliamentary commission investigation.