Opposition lawmakers in Turkey are boycotting the opening of parliament in protest of a court decision to prevent several elected but detained officials from taking their seats.

One third of the 550-member newly-elected parliament said Monday they will attend the opening ceremony but will refuse to take the oath until their colleagues are freed.

The standoff soured the start of Prime Minister's Recep Tayyip Erdogan's third term in power after winning the June 12 elections.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the opposition Republican Party, said his 135 lawmakers would join pro-Kurdish members and refuse to take part in the “undemocratic” process that blocked the jailed lawmakers from taking office.

The courts have refused to release nine opposition lawmakers who are in prison awaiting trial under accusations that critics have described as more political than criminal in nature.

Turkey's electoral board also has stripped elected-but-jailed official Hatip Dicle, supported by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, of his seat and handed it over to the ruling party.

Mr. Erdogan has said his party does not plan to make any changes to the situation. The prime minister's party has a comfortable majority in parliament, having won 326 seats.