Turkey arrests opposition leaders, including the 'Kurdish Obama'
Source: The Guardian and agencies
Two co-leaders and at least 11 MPs from Turkeys pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic party (HDP) have been detained 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 Turkeys mainly Kurdish south-east, early on Friday the partys lawyers told Reuters.
At least 11 other HDP parliamentarians were also detained, lawyers said, in a major escalation of the governments crackdown on its opponents in the wake of the failed coup on 15 July. Raids also took place in the south-eastern cities of Diyarbakir, Van and Bingol.
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.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/04/turkey-arrests-pro-kurdish-party-leaders-mps
Staff and agencies
Friday 4 November 2016 00.14 GMT