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[UPDATE] HDP deputy Aslan released from detention in Mardin

HDP deputy Mehmet Ali Aslan

Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Mehmet Ali Aslan, who was detained in the Midyat district of southeastern Mardin province on Saturday as part of an ongoing crackdown on Kurdish politicians, has been released.

A court had issued a warrant for Aslan’s detention since he failed to appear at hearings in a trial in which he stands accused of  “membership in a terrorist organization” and “disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization.”

Aslan was released on Sunday after testifying to prosecutors at the Midyat Courthouse.

On Friday, while a court in Diyarbakır issued an arrest warrant for HDP deputy İdris Baluken, who was recently released from jail, another court in Adıyaman ruled for the detention of HDP deputy Behçet Yıldırım.

HDP deputy Ferhat Encü, who was released from jail on Wednesday, was arrested on Friday after the Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office objected to his release.

Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent months. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians have been arrested on terror charges. There are currently 12 HDP deputies behind bars.

The developments have attracted widespread criticism from the region and Western countries.

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