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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Dozens of people, including officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), were detained on Saturday in the Kurdish province of Sirnak by Turkish security forces. This comes after the interior minister claimed that a lawmaker from the party was involved in the death of the brother of an official from the ruling party.
“The police raided our party building at 6 am” in Sirnak province’s Cizre and Silopi towns, Hussayn Kacmaz, an HDP lawmaker, told Rudaw English on Saturday, adding that it is still unclear how many people were detained.
Mehmet Zirig, the mayor of Cizre on an HDP ticket, said in a tweet that the party building in the district “has been raided and a search is underway.” Many members of the HDP and other parties close to it were detained, he added. Zirig said later in the day that the number of detainees had reached 12.
Kacmaz told Rudaw English that they have not been informed of the reasons behind the raids, but was sure that they were linked to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu’s recent claim that the lawmaker was involved in the killing of Tahir Guven, the brother of a provincial official from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) earlier this month. Soylu told parliament on Thursday that the suspect was found at Kacmaz’s house, an accusation he has denied.
A Kurdish armed group, affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has claimed responsibility for the death of Guven.
According to Turkish state and pro-government media, Saturday’s raids were related to the death of Guven.
The state-owned Anadolu Agency said that 26 people were detained by police on Saturday.
Some Turkish officials accuse the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, but the party has denied the claim.
Thousands of HDP officials, former lawmakers, and members have been arrested over the last few years, including former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.
“The police raided our party building at 6 am” in Sirnak province’s Cizre and Silopi towns, Hussayn Kacmaz, an HDP lawmaker, told Rudaw English on Saturday, adding that it is still unclear how many people were detained.
Mehmet Zirig, the mayor of Cizre on an HDP ticket, said in a tweet that the party building in the district “has been raided and a search is underway.” Many members of the HDP and other parties close to it were detained, he added. Zirig said later in the day that the number of detainees had reached 12.
Kacmaz told Rudaw English that they have not been informed of the reasons behind the raids, but was sure that they were linked to Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu’s recent claim that the lawmaker was involved in the killing of Tahir Guven, the brother of a provincial official from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) earlier this month. Soylu told parliament on Thursday that the suspect was found at Kacmaz’s house, an accusation he has denied.
A Kurdish armed group, affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has claimed responsibility for the death of Guven.
According to Turkish state and pro-government media, Saturday’s raids were related to the death of Guven.
The state-owned Anadolu Agency said that 26 people were detained by police on Saturday.
Some Turkish officials accuse the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, but the party has denied the claim.
Thousands of HDP officials, former lawmakers, and members have been arrested over the last few years, including former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.
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