Turkey’s parliament ratified a bill on Friday that strips legislators of immunity from prosecution by adding a temporary amendment to Article 83 of the Turkish Constitution. The new amendment, which passed with overwhelming support from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) majority government, coincides in a timely matter with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s anti-terrorism legislation andis criticized as both an attack against pro-Kurdish MPs and another step towards authoritarianism in Turkey.

The suspension of the ‘immunity law’ seeks to prosecute 51 opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) MPs, 50 People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MPs, 27 AKP MPs, nine Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) MPs, and one independent, who are currently facing investigations. The AKP and MHP accuse these MPs of abusing their immunity from prosecution to collaborate with the political wing of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), which is a terrorist organization fighting for Kurdish independence in Turkey.

The HDP, which has received growing support in recent elections, criticized the AKP’s bold move, declaring it as a direct attack upon the party and the democratic nature of the Kemalist state.

“This is an attack on us. The immunity bill is targeting the HDP because we’re getting stronger,” implored Meral Bestas, a member of HDP.” After the elections, we saw that Turkey was on the road to a real democracy that included everyone.”

If all MPs are convicted, the HDP’s presence in the Grand National Assembly will be reduced from 59 to 9 MPs, which will be a major blow to millions of Kurds and the growing Turkish opposition that the party represents.

The AKP defended the suspension of Article 83 by emphasizing that the bill applies to all parties, rather than solely the HDP. In recent months, however, the AKP has been using fear-mongering propaganda and embarked on a legal campaign that is aimed at creating false links between the HDP and the PKK, especially after the HDP received 14% of the vote in Turkey’s national election and deprived the AKP of its long-standing parliamentary majority. The AKP quickly regained their parliamentary majority after a strategic snap-election last November.

As the AKP continues to stifle political opposition, especially from pro-Kurdish parties, the Turkish government’s democratic nature continues to wane. It appears that in a time of domestic crisis, from the ailing economy to civil unrest in the Kurdish-majority southeastern provinces, Erdoğan and the AKP are vying to transform the parliament into a tool of the government. The suspension of Article 83 illustrates the increasingly authoritarian path of President Erdoğan, which exacerbates the mounting insecurity and vulnerability of political opposition to the Turkish government.