 have been detained in a police operation in İstanbul, the Yeni Yaşam newspaper reported.){kind=link}
Two local politicians from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) have been detained in a police operation in İstanbul, the Yeni Yaşam newspaper reported.
The politicians are Rojda Yılmaz and Abdullah Arına, the co-chairpersons of the DEM Party’s district branch in Esenyurt.
Authorities have not released a statement with the reason for the detentions on Friday, but Kurdish politicians in Turkey frequently face legal action due to accusations of terrorism.
Meanwhile, in the southeastern province of Mardin, seven people were also detained in house raids on Friday. The suspects, who are accused of “disseminating terrorist propaganda,” were taken to the Mardin Police Station for questioning, according to Yeni Yaşam.
Kurds and Kurdish politicians are mostly accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), together with its ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have long portrayed the DEM Party and its predecessors as the political front of the PKK.
The party denies links to the PKK and says it is working to achieve a peaceful solution to Turkey’s Kurdish issue and is only coming under attack because of its strong opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 22-year rule.