Turkey has ordered the arrest of 17 people including the co-leader of the main pro-Kurdish political party over opposition to the military’s offensive in Syria, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Friday.

Since the launch of the campaign in north-west Syria’s Afrin nearly three weeks ago, authorities have said they would arrest those who criticise or oppose it. So far, some 600 people have been detained for protests or for social media posts against the offensive.

Anadolu cited the Ankara prosecutor’s office as saying the 17 suspects now facing arrest were accused of seeking to stir street protests and clashes under the guise of opposition to the Afrin offensive.

Among them were Serpil Kemalbay, the co-leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), it said. The HDP, parliament’s second-largest opposition party, is the only major political party to oppose the campaign – dubbed Operation Olive Branch – against the Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin.

The party is scheduled to hold its annual congress in Ankara on Sunday.

The HDP’s other co-leader, Selahattin Demirtas, is in jail over alleged links to Kurdish militants and is among many leading members of the party imprisoned on similar charges, which they have denied.

The YPG is designated by Ankara as a terrorist group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade insurgency on Turkish soil in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey will strip the word ‘Turkish’ from the name of its main medical association after the group publicly opposed the campaign. </s> ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police detained leading members of several Kurdish and leftist parties on Friday, the co-leader of the main pro-Kurdish HDP party said, describing it as an attempt to hamper preparations for the annual HDP congress on Sunday.

Serpil Kemalbay, newly elected co-chairwoman of the Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), speaks during her party's extraordinary congress in Ankara, Turkey, May 20, 2017. REUTERS/Stringer

Co-leader Serpil Kemalbay herself was among facing 17 suspects facing arrest over their opposition to Turkey’s military offensive in neighbouring Syria, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.

Since the launch of the campaign in northwest Syria’s Afrin nearly three weeks ago, authorities have said they would arrest those who criticise or oppose it. So far, some 600 people have been detained for protests or for social media posts against the military action.

Ankara prosecutors sought the arrests on accusations that the suspects sought to stir street protests and clashes under the guise of opposition to the Afrin offensive, Anadolu said.

The HDP, parliament’s second-largest opposition party, is the only major political party to oppose the campaign - dubbed “Operation Olive Branch” - against the Kurdish YPG militia in Afrin.

“The aim of these illegal and arbitrary operations is to prevent our congress being held in a healthy way,” Kemalbay said, promising that the party meeting would go ahead.

In Friday’s raids, police detained the representatives and leaders of various left-wing and pro-Kurdish groups and political parties, Kemalbay said in a statement. She did not say how many were detained in total.

Kemalbay herself has not yet been detained and was still in the HDP headquarters in Ankara.

The HDP’s other co-leader, Selahattin Demirtas, is in jail over alleged links to Kurdish militants and is among many leading members of the party imprisoned on similar charges, which they have denied.

The YPG is designated by Ankara as a terrorist group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade-old insurgency on Turkish soil in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday Turkey would strip the word “Turkish” from the name of its main medical association after the group publicly opposed the campaign. </s> Turkish authorities detained nine officials from the country's main pro-Kurdish opposition party on Saturday, a party official said, a day after the party's leaders were formally arrested.

The nine officials included the provincial and district heads of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the southeastern province of Adana, the official said.

HDP co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag were arrested on Friday as part of a terrorism investigation, prompting strong international condemnation of a widening crackdown on dissent under President Tayyip Erdogan. </s> Turkey has ordered the arrest of 17 people including pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Serpil Kemalbay over their opposition to Turkey's military operation in Syria, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Friday.

ISTANBUL: Turkey has ordered the arrest of 17 people including pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Serpil Kemalbay over their opposition to Turkey's military operation in Syria, state-run Anadolu news agency said on Friday.

The HDP, parliament's second largest opposition party, is scheduled to hold its annual congress in Ankara on Sunday. Its other co-leader Selahattin Demirtas is in jail over alleged links to Kurdish militants. </s> Turkey's pro-Kurdish party has decided to halt its legislative activities in parliament following the arrest of nine of its lawmakers.

Yet Ayhan Bilgen, a spokesman for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), told The Associated Press on Sunday that the party will not withdraw from parliament, saying that decision can only "be made in consultation with the people."

HDP co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag were arrested Friday on terrorism-related charges, along with seven other lawmakers. The move prompted messages of concern from the U.S. and Europe that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using the pursuit of terrorists to detain opposition members.

The HDP entered parliament last year as the nation's third-largest party. In May, Turkey's parliament voted to strip lawmakers of legal immunity, paving the way for the arrests. </s> Turkish police have detained more than 800 people over alleged links to Kurdish fighters in nationwide operations, according to state media.

Police conducted simultaneous raids in 37 different provinces and taken 834 people into custody, state-run Anadolu Agency quoted police forces as saying on Tuesday.

Anadolu said authorities received intelligence that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) would escalate attacks after February 15, the day marking the 1999 capture of imprisoned PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

Along with the suspects, two Kalashnikovs, 11 guns, 15 rifles and ammunition were seized, police said.

The operations come as Turks prepare to vote on April 16 on replacing the parliamentary system with the stronger presidency sought by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

RELATED: Turkey passes bill to strip politicians of immunity

The referendum will be held under a state of emergency imposed after an attempted coup last July.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested since the abortive coup over suspected ties to Fethullah Gulen, the US-based Muslim leader and businessman accused by Ankara of organising the coup.

HDP reaction

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said the raids aimed to weaken it.

"The basic goal of these operations ... is to hold the referendum without the HDP," a statement from its executive committee said.

Its statement, released before Tuesday's arrests, said more than 300 of its members and executives had been detained on Monday, bringing those held this year to around 1,200.

A dozen of its MPs and tens of Kurdish mayors from a sister party have been jailed pending trial.

The government accuses the HDP, parliament's second biggest opposition party, of being a political extension of the PKK.

The HDP denies direct links with the PKK and says it wants a peaceful settlement in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast.

The PKK, designated a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the EU and the US, launched an armed struggle against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

A ceasefire between the PKK and the state broke down in July 2015 and thousands have been killed in the conflict since then. </s> ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey has so far detained 573 people for social media posts and protests criticizing its military offensive in Syria, the government said on Monday.

Turkish military armoured vehicles arrive at a border village near the town of Hassa in Hatay province, Turkey, January 21, 2018. Baris Kadirhan/Depo Photos via REUTERS

The crackdown, which has extended to the national medical association, has deepened concerns about free speech under President Tayyip Erdogan, who has criticized opponents of the military intervention as “traitors”.

Turkey last month launched an air and ground offensive, dubbed Operation Olive Branch, against the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria’s northwestern Afrin region. Authorities have repeatedly warned they would prosecute those opposing, criticizing or misrepresenting the incursion.

“Since the start of Operation Olive Branch, 449 people have been detained for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media and 124 people detained for taking part in protest action,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The operation has been widely supported by Turkey’s mainly pro-government media and by most political parties, with the exception of the pro-Kurdish opposition.

Last week, a prosecutor ordered the detention of 11 senior members of the Turkish Medical Association, including its chairman, after the organization criticized the incursion, saying: “No to war, peace immediately”.

Erdogan criticized the body as traitors. All of the doctors have since been released on probation, the association said on Twitter. Detention orders have been issued for another 13 people for supporting the medics.

“There are laws that prohibit the glorification of terrorism, support for terrorism through propaganda and media. The prosecutors are implementing the laws,” Erdogan’s spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, told reporters in Istanbul at the weekend.

Ankara considers the U.S.-backed YPG, which controls Afrin, to be a terrorist group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought an insurgency in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast since 1984.

Turkey is in the midst of a widening crackdown that began after a failed coup attempt in July 2016. Some 50,000 people have been jailed and 150,000 sacked or suspended from their jobs.

Critics, including rights groups and some Western allies, say Erdogan is using the coup as a pretext to muzzle dissent. The latest arrests have also drawn criticism from the European Union.

Turkey says its measures are necessary due to the gravity of the security threats it faces. </s> An Istanbul court on Saturday ordered the formal arrest of nine employees of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, widening Turkey’s crackdown on dissenting voices. The arrests came hours after a bomb in the country’s southeast killed two children.

The formal arrests, which come a day after nine co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were jailed pending trial, are likely to spark more concern among Turkey’s allies about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s intolerance of dissent in the wake of a failed July 15 coup.

More than 110,000 officials, including judges, teachers, police and civil servants, have been detained or suspended following the botched coup. Erdogan’s critics say he is using the coup as a pretext to squash the opposition, while Ankara says the crackdown is necessary to root out terrorists.

The Cumhuriyet staff placed under arrest had been held earlier this week. They include Cumhuriyet’s editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu, celebrated cartoonist Musa Kart and influential anti-Erdogan columnist Kadri Gursel — some of the most prominent names in Turkish journalism — the state-run Anadolu and private Dogan news agencies said.

The suspects are charged with links to the outlawed Kurdish militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the movement of US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Erdogan for the failed coup bid. Gulen denies the accusations.

Like the nine HDP MPs, the newspaper staff will now be held behind bars ahead of a trial, a date for which has yet to be set.

The arrests have heightened concern among Western allies about the political direction of Turkey, a NATO member and a buffer between Europe and the conflicts raging in Syria and Iraq.

European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she was “extremely worried” by the arrests, and raised her concerns in a telephone call with Turkey’s foreign and EU affairs ministers late on Friday. The United States, meanwhile, expressed “deep concern”.

Hours after Friday’s detentions, a car bomb killed 11 people and wounded more than 100 near a police station in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir where some of the lawmakers were being held.

The government immediately blamed the PKK for the attack, but the Amaq news agency, which is linked to the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, said that its fighters were behind the bombing, the SITE Intelligence Group said. There has so far been no comment from the PKK.

In a separate attack on Saturday, at least two children were killed and four more were wounded when a bomb went off in the south-eastern province of Sirnak. According to the local governor’s office, the bomb had been planted by PKK militants. The deadly blast occurred just hours after authorities appointed a new mayor to the Sirnak municipality in a move to replace municipal officials it accuses of supporting the PKK.

Turkish authorities have also sparked controversy by slapping restrictions on social media and messaging services like WhatsApp.

Users encountered problems on Friday and Saturday loading social media and also using Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections which people often use to circumvent such restrictions. -AFP </s> Baku. 20 November. REPORT.AZ/ Turkish police on Friday arrested 12 suspected members of the PKK terrorist organization and its youth wing YDG-H in Istanbul, Report informs referring to the Turkish media.

Counter-terrorist officers carried out simultaneous dawn raids in Esenyurt, Beylikdüzü, Başakşehir and Büyükçekmece districts.

The suspects, who are suspected of membership of the PKK or Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H), were taken to the city's police headquarters following health checks.

There have been many arrests across Turkey since the July 20 Suruç suicide bombing that killed dozens of people; most of the suspects detained have alleged links to terrorist groups PKK, KCK, YDG-H, Daesh as well as the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
Turkey arrests 17 leaders of the left-wing Peoples' Democratic Party for opposition to the ongoing Afrin offensive.