Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met with a delegation from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the Turkish Parliament on Tuesday in the aftermath of a crackdown on the party that led to the arrest of 10 of its deputies in early November.
Steinmeier had a meeting with an HDP delegation including deputies Mithat Sancar, Feleknas Uca, Osman Baydemir and Ziya Pir during which the HDP deputies expressed their views about the latest developments in the country.
According to a statement from the HDP, Steinmeier invited the HDP deputies to Berlin for more extensive talks.
Turkish courts on Nov. 4 arrested nine HDP deputies including the party’s Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. The HDP deputies were arrested after they refused to testify about alleged crimes linked to “terrorist propaganda.” One more HDP deputy was arrested on Nov. 5, bringing the total number of HDP deputies under arrest to nine.
Steinmeier, who arrived in Ankara for an official visit on Tuesday, also met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım as well as Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.