ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Russia on Monday extradited a former representative of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Erbil to Turkey after denying his asylum request.
“Nasir Yagiz, a Kurdish activist, politician, and former representative of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Erbil, who had an arrest warrant issued against him in Turkey, was handed over to Turkey by Russia, where he had sought asylum,” the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency (MA) said.
The 32-year-old had recently traveled to Russia seeking asylum but was denied and detained for four days before being extradited to Turkey on Monday, according to MA.
“My client was brought from Moscow to Istanbul this morning. During his detention, my client was subjected to torture and ill-treatment. He said he was denied food and water for days,” said Mehmet Resul Yagiz, his lawyer, as cited by MA.
He was a representative at HDP’s Erbil office since 2018, and in November, he was summoned by Erbil’s local security forces (Asayish) and expelled from the city for unknown reasons.
Hikmet Hatib, another HDP member who was expelled, said that they had no issues with the local authorities and held talks with several officials from the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
HDP was once Turkey’s largest pro-Kurdish party. It is, however, facing the threat of closure because of alleged ties with Kurdish rebels and has rebranded itself as Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
Firat news agency, affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), said following his extradition that Yagiz faced legal troubles in Turkey before his departure for the Kurdistan Region in 2018, for alleged links to Kurdish rebels.