DTP Former Leader Says They Withdrew From Parliament

ANKARA - Outlawed Democratic Society Party (DTP) former chairman said Saturday its lawmakers have withdrawn from the Turkish parliament.

After the Constitutional Court's Friday decision to shut down DTP, Ahmet Turk, former chairman of DTP, said they would not attend parliamentary sessions.

Turk claimed that the decision of the Constitutional Court was not a legal one, but political.

Constitutional Court, country's top legal authority, has decided to shut down DTP on charges it has ties with the terrorist organization PKK. 37 DTP executives, including Turk and MP Aysel Tugluk were banned from politics for five years.