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's state-run news agency says the leader of the pro-Kurdish opposition party has been taken to a maximum security prison in the northwestern city of Edirne.

The Anadolou agency said Saturday that Selahattin Demirtas, co-chair of the People's Democratic Party or HDP, was among the 12 party legislators detained overnight for refusal to testify on terror-related charges.

Demirtas, along with fellow co-chair Figen Yuksekdag and seven other lawmakers were formally put under arrest pending trial. The courts released three others on condition they report regularly to authorities.

The private Dogan News Agency said Yuksekdag was taken to a maximum security prison in the northwestern city of Kocaeli.

The government accuses the HDP of being the political arm of its outlawed Kurdish rebels, an accusation the party rejects. </s> The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) tweeted that nine of its deputies were taken into custody, with some having their houses raided.

The HDP, Turkey's third-largest political party, also claimed their headquarters in Ankara were raided.

The party said in a tweet from its official foreign affairs twitter account that an internet slowdown is in effect "to prevent reactions through social media" to the arrests.

A resident in Turkey speaking to CNN corroborated that the internet was running slowly during the time the HDP said the so-called slowdown was in effect.

Figen Yuksekdag a co-chair of the HDP, and Selahattin Demirtas, the president and co-leader of the HDP, were both taken into custody in their homes, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. How the 'Kurdish question' complicates the anti-ISIS alliance Demirtas tweeted late Thursday that "police officials are at my door in my Diyarbakir house [in southern Turkey] to detain me by force." Anadolu reported that Yuksekdag was taken at her Ankara home "for failing to comply with a summons for her testimony" in a terror investigation. The detentions come just days after Diyarbakir's first elected female mayor -- Gultan Kisanak -- and her co-mayor were detained. Kisanak, a member of HDP, was detained on terror-related charges, according to Anadolu. Demonstrators took to the streets to protest her detention, and riot police used water cannons to disperse them. A 30-year-old conflict between the Turkish state and militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) reignited more than a year ago in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast. The PKK is identified as a terror group by Turkey, the US and the EU. The Kurds are Turkey's largest ethnic minority. For much of the 20th century, the state oppressed this community. Idris Baluken, a member of HDP and a member of the Turkish Parliament, said, "This is an attack on Kurdish identity and dignity. This attack is no different then any attack on Kurdish officials in the last 100 years." </s> Selahattin Demirtaş, HDP co-leader known as the ‘Kurdish Obama’, held with at least 11 MPs as post-coup crackdown continues

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The two joint leaders of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic party (HDP) have been detained along with at least 10 MPs because of their reluctance to give testimony for crimes linked to “terrorist propaganda”.

Police raided the Ankara home of co-leader Selahattin Demirtaș and the house of co-leader Figen Yüksekdağ in Diyarbakır, the largest city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish south-east, early on Friday.

Demirtaş – a charismatic leader known as the “Kurdish Obama” by some admirers – and Yüksekdağ had been targeted by several separate investigations over the past few months but this is the first time that either has been detained.

At least 10 other HDP parliamentarians were also held, lawyers said, in a major escalation of the government’s crackdown on its opponents in the wake of the failed coup on 15 July. Raids also took place in the south-eastern cities of Van and Bingöl.

The raids took place against a backdrop of rising criticism over the government’s purge, which earlier this week also saw the issuing of arrest warrants against editors and staff of Cumhuriyet, the main opposition newspaper in the country, and a fresh round of dismissals in the gendarmerie.

Ankara accuses the HDP’s politicians of harbouring sympathies for, and acting to further the interests of the Kurdistan Workers, party (PKK), a separatist group engaged in an insurgency against the government. Peace talks collapsed last year amid accusations that the PKK was rearming and as the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) drifted towards allying with the nationalist bloc in parliament.

Turkish journalists face abuse and threats online as trolls step up attacks Read more

The purges of the police and media institutions are part of a crackdown on what the authorities say are individuals and organisations with alleged links to Fethullah Gülen, a US-based preacher that Turkey accuses of masterminding the coup.

The prime minister, Binali Yıldırım, told reporters that elected officials who incite and encourage terrorism must face legal proceedings and that the MPs were detained because they had refused to give testimony.

But Turkey’s allies are likely to perceive the latest arrests as a further attempt by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to consolidate his power ahead of a parliamentary vote and referendum expected as early as next spring to revise the Turkish constitution and transform the country from a parliamentary democracy into a presidential system.

The leader of the nationalist bloc, Devlet Bahçeli, recently backed a referendum, making a vote on the issue more likely.

A widespread difficulty in reaching social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook as well as messaging app WhatsApp was also reported across Turkey after the detentions started at midnight.

Turkey Blocks (@TurkeyBlocks) Update: WhatsApp messaging service block in #Turkey confirmed, joining Twitter, Facebook and YouTube shutdownshttps://t.co/XA9JZaxn54 pic.twitter.com/XNusUu2rgW

Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) Big things happening in #Turkey - internet totally off in southeast & HDP officials being detained.



+ Rumor of imminent invasion of #Iraq.

Hours after the detentions began, Diyarbakır was rocked by car bomb outside a police building that was blamed by authorities on PKK militants. Eight people were killed.

The Turkish justice minister, Bekir Bozdağ, said on Friday that the detention of the HDP MPs was in line with the law in comments broadcast on state television.



Others detained included the prominent MP, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who in the past has been a pointman for contacts with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. The head of the HDP’s delegation in the Turkish parliament, İdris Baluken, was also held.

HDP is the third largest party in the 550-seat Turkish parliament, with 59 seats. Parliamentarians in Turkey normally enjoy immunity from prosecution, but the pro-Kurdish party’s immunity was lifted this year.

Turkey accuses the HDP of links to the PKK, which is deemed a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Turkey.

Police also raided the party’s head office in central Ankara. Television images showed party officials quarrelling with police during the raid, and a witness said police cars and armed vehicles had closed off the entrances to the street of the HDP headquarters.

“HDP call international community to react against Erdoğan regime’s coup,” the party said on Twitter, referring to President Erdoğan.

A group of protesters chanting slogans tried to reach the party offices, but were stopped by police before they could enter the street, a witness said.

Turkey Untold (@TurkeyUntold) VIDEO: Police attack HDP co-char Yuksekdag's advisors to prevent them from filming the raid on her house. pic.twitter.com/55DR3kEDH5

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the arrests compromised Turkey’s parliamentary democracy.

“We expect Turkey to safeguard its parliamentary democracy, including respect for human rights and the rule of law, and we are conveying these expectations directly to the Turkish authorities,” Mogherini said in a statement with the EU’s enlargement commissioner, Johannes Hahn.

Relations with the EU are delicate. Officials in Ankara accuse their European counterparts of not showing enough support for Turkey in the aftermath of the failed coup, and bristle at criticism of the crackdown. Meanwhile, a deal to limit the flight of migrants from Turkey to Europe in exchange for visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in the EU may fail in the coming weeks because Europe has not kept its end of the bargain.



A measure to reintroduce the death penalty is also likely to be debated in the coming weeks in parliament, a likely death blow to Turkey’s EU accession talks.

The raids come as Turkey remains under a state of emergency imposed after the coup, which critics say has gone well beyond targeting the plotters. Thirteen staff from the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper, including the editor-in-chief, were detained on Monday, further heightening strains in Turkish society.

This is the biggest witch-hunt in Turkey’s history | Can Dündar Read more

Tensions have surged in the Kurdish-dominated south-east of Turkey since a fragile ceasefire declared by the PKK collapsed in 2015. The HDP seeks to promote the cause of Turkey’s Kurdish minority and defend the rights of Kurds as well as those of women, gays and workers.

But the authorities accuse the party of being a front for the PKK and failing to distance itself from terror, claims it has always vehemently denied.

Erdoğan has launched repeated personal attacks on Demirtaş, who analysts have seen as the sole politician in Turkey who comes anywhere near to rivalling his charisma. Demirtaş has made it a personal crusade to oppose Erdoğan’s plan for a presidential system in Turkey, which the HDP says would lead to dictatorship.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report. </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> Image copyright AP/Reuters Image caption Selahattin Demirtas (L) and Figen Yuksekdag have been detained as well as other MPs from their party

The joint leaders of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition party, People's Democracy (HDP), have been arrested along with at least nine other MPs.

Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag are accused of spreading propaganda for militants fighting the Turkish state.

Hours after Mr Demirtas was arrested in Diyarbakir, a car bomb killed eight people and injured more than 100.

Militants have been fighting for years to achieve independence for the Kurds, Turkey's biggest ethnic minority.

Turkey remains under a state of emergency that was imposed after a failed military coup in July.

The emergency allows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his cabinet to bypass parliament when drafting new laws and to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption The blast in Diyarbakir destroyed the fronts of buildings

Image copyright AP

Image copyright Reuters

A major escalation: Analysis by Mark Lowen, BBC Turkey correspondent

Image copyright AFP

The government says those detained had failed to respond to a summons for questioning and issued an arrest warrant for two other HDP MPs currently abroad.

This is a major escalation of a clampdown that has seen Kurdish media closed down and the mayor of Diyarbakir arrested.

Hopes of an end to Turkey's decades-long Kurdish problem have evaporated since a ceasefire with the [Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK broke down in 2015, leading to a wave of tit-for-tat attacks.

Mr Demirtas elicited international support with his liberal politics but critics say he has failed to distance the party sufficiently from the PKK. Friday's detentions are likely to provoke more tension among Kurds - and more violence too.

Why were the party leaders arrested?

The government says they were detained for failing to co-operate with a counter-terrorism investigation, which the two leaders vowed to boycott in June.

Defending the arrests, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said: "They did not respect the law."

The MPs are also accused of spreading propaganda for the PKK, the Kurdish group suspected of a wave of recent attacks including Friday's car bomb.

Deemed a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Turkey, the PKK has been fighting the state since the 1970s in a war which has claimed at least 40,000 lives.

Can MPs really be arrested just like this in Turkey?

Turkish politicians normally have immunity from prosecution but this was removed from the HDP and some other MPs in May.

Last month, the joint mayors of Diyarbakir, Turkey's largest Kurdish-majority city, were also arrested as part of a terrorism investigation.

Is the HDP linked to the PKK?

While commonly seen as the main pro-Kurdish party, HDP is an eclectic grouping which also appeals to leftists, liberals, environmentalists, gay rights activists and pious Muslims. That explains why it is Turkey's third-largest party.

It entered parliament for the first time last year, winning 59 seats.

During the election campaign, it carried a moderate message despite dozens of attacks against party supporters and offices, culminating in a deadly attack on its largest election rally in Diyarbakir two days before the vote.

The party strongly denies any links to the PKK.

Mr Demirtas and others accuse President Erdogan of seeking to push the party out of parliament and increase his own power.

One MP, who is currently abroad, told the BBC the government was acting like Nazis.

"This crackdown tonight is nothing to do with procedural law, criminal law, any law whatsoever or the constitution," Ertugrul Kurkcu said. "This is an unlawful hijacking of HDP parliamentarians."

Turkey's HDP party goes mainstream </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> Istanbul (CNN) A car bomb targeting a police station in southeastern Turkey has killed nine people, including seven civilians and two police officers, according to state-run Anadolu news agency.

Earlier on Friday morning, Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said 100 people were injured in the explosion, 93 of whom have since been released from hospitals.

A large explosion hit the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast region on Friday, Anadolu news agency reported.

Turkish authorities have blamed the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for the attack.

The bomb, which damaged cars and nearby building facades, rocked the heavily-populated Baglar district in central Diyarbakir shortly before 8 a.m. local time, the Diyarbakir provincial governor's office said in a statement.

A 30-year-old conflict between the Turkish state and militants from the PKK reignited more than a year ago in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast.

The deadly explosion came just hours after more than a dozen members of parliament from a pro-Kurdish political party were detained because they failed to respond to a summons by a prosecutor, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's office.

State media reported that several politicians from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), were detained as part of a terror investigation, following raids on their homes.

The HDP, Turkey's third-largest political party, also claimed their headquarters in Ankara were raided.

Ankara has been accused of cracking down on dissidents since a coup attempt over the summer.

Anadolu reported that party leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag have now been formally arrested along with four party members. Four other people are still being detained without charges, while three others were released but remain under judicial scrutiny and face travel bans.

Demirtas tweeted late Thursday that "police officials are at my door in my Diyarbakir house [in southern Turkey] to detain me by force."

The party said in a tweet that an Internet slowdown was in effect "to prevent reactions through social media" to the arrests.

According to TurkeyBlocks, an Internet monitoring group, access to several social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp had been restricted in the country. An expert for the group said that domestic Internet providers were "throttling" or slowing connection to specific social sites, causing the blocked access.

The HDP said at a press conference in Istanbul Friday that party members have started to stage sit-in protests in front of their buildings.

Branch chief Dogan Erbas also called for a larger protest to take place on Saturday afternoon. He said the detainment goes against democracy and democratic forces in Turkey.

Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit, a HDP member, added that Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had two options after the July 15 coup -- "democracy or dictatorship."

"AKP did not hesitate to bring the country [to] the edge of a civil war. What we live today is the early steps of a civil war," she said.

She added: "We will use our legitimate right of resistance. If we do not want Turkey to become Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, we should choose [to] side with democracy and liberties."

Demonstrators took to the streets to protest her detention, and riot police used water cannons to disperse them.

The PKK is identified as a terror group by Turkey, the US and the EU.

The Kurds are Turkey's largest ethnic minority. For much of the 20th century, the state oppressed this community.

Idris Baluken, a member of HDP and a member of the Turkish Parliament, said, "This is an attack on Kurdish identity and dignity. This attack is no different then any attack on Kurdish officials in the last 100 years." </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.
Turkish security forces begin mass arrests of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs, including co-leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. Internet access is reportedly blocked across southeastern Turkey.