Turkish police on Tuesday raided the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) office in the Kadıköy district of İstanbul, DHA reported.
Following a four-hour search of the premises for prohibited publications and photos, police detained Gül Demir, co-chair of HDP district bureau. A detention warrant was issued for Ercan Demir, the other co-chair of the bureau.
Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians since 2016. 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. Ten HDP deputies including Co-chairpersons Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ are still in prison.
