Turkey arrests pro-Kurdish party leaders amid claims of internet shutdown

[MowCowWhoHow III]

Source: The Guardian

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”.

Turkish police raided the Ankara home of co-leader Selahattin Demirtas and the house of co-leader Figen Yuksekdag in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish south-east, early on Friday.

Demirtas – a charismatic leader dubbed the “Kurdish Obama” by some admirers – and Yuksekdag had been targeted by several separate probes over the last months but this is the first time that either has been detained.

At least 10 other HDP parliamentarians were also detained, 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 Bingol.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/04/turkey-arrests-pro-kurdish-party-leaders-mps

[moondust]

1. And the reaction:

Turkey blast kills nine, injures 100 after pro-Kurdish leaders detained


Turkey, crossroads of Hell that needed a cool-headed diplomat but got a thin-skinned dictator.

[LeftishBrit]

2. Democracy is dying in Turkey. Very sad.