Turkey Pro-Kurdish Peoples\u2019 Democratic Party (HDP) jailed Co-chairperson Selahattin Demirtas has said HDP deputies are being kept in prison as part of a government strategy for snap elections, tr24 reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreparations for the snap election alliance of the AKP [Justice and Development Party] and MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] have already gotten under way. This is the reason why they\u2019re illegally keeping me and my colleagues in prison,\u201d said Demirtas in a written message read during the HDP\u2019s \u201cConscience and Justice Watch\u201d in Van province.<\/p>\n
Condemning the efforts of the government to isolate HDP members, Demirtas called on party members to participate in all activities of the people in the region.<\/p>\n
Turkish police on Friday detained 23 people, including the Antalya co-chairs of the HDP, in operations against outlawed Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK) militants in five provinces.<\/p>\n
There are currently 11 HDP deputies behind bars in Turkey. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country\u2019s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians have been arrested on terror charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Turkey Pro-Kurdish Peoples\u2019 Democratic Party (HDP) jailed Co-chairperson Selahattin Demirtas has said HDP deputies are being kept in prison as part of a government strategy for snap elections, tr24 reported on Sunday. \u201cPreparations for the snap election alliance of the AKP [Justice and Development Party] and MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] have already gotten under way. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[297,539,537,538],"yoast_head":"\n