Turkey: 718 arrests in pro-Kurdish circles across the country
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to supporters of his ruling party in the city of Rize, on the Black Sea, Turkey, on Monday, February 15, while arrests in pro-Kurdish circles are still ongoing Across the country.
AP
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The Turkish authorities announced on Monday February 15 the arrest of 718 people, including leaders of the pro-Kurdish party HDP.
All these people are suspected of links with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), to which Ankara blamed the death of 13 Turkish citizens in Iraq on Sunday.
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With our correspondent in Istanbul,
Anne Andlauer
Şırnak, Ağrı, Diyarbakır, Urfa, Van, Manisa: the Turkish police and gendarmerie in recent days have been hitting the net in pro-Kurdish circles across the country.
Forty provinces - half of Turkey's provinces - are affected by these operations, which the Interior Ministry specifies that they are still ongoing.
They target the offices of the People's Democratic Party, the HDP, and the homes of its cadres and party activists.
In a statement, the ministry said that these arrests were intended to "
bring to light the activities of the terrorist organization PKK inside the country
" and that "a
large number of weapons, documents and digital material belonging to the organization
”were seized during searches.
Hundreds of HDP members, the second opposition force in the Turkish parliament, have been
jailed
since 2015, including former leaders, MPs and mayors.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to weaken this formation by accusing it of being the "
showcase
" of a terrorist group, while its power ally, the ultranationalist party MHP, has been demanding for a few weeks the ban of the pro party. Kurdish.
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See also: The Kurdistan Workers' Party accused of killing thirteen Turks detained in Iraq
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