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Turkey has arrested the two co-mayors of Diyarbakir, its largest Kurdish city, the highest ranking Kurdish leaders to be detained in a months-long crackdown designed to cripple the country’s Kurdish opposition.
Gultan Kisanak, one of the most prominent Kurdish politicians in the country, and her colleague, Firat Anli, were arrested late on Tuesday night on charges that they diverted public funds to support the activities of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist organisation.
Commenting on the arrests, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief and Johannes Hahn, the commissioner in charge of Turkey’s EU membership bid, said Ankara needed to act against the PKK “in full respect of the rule of law, due process and fundamental freedoms — all commitments Turkey has made as an [EU] candidate country”.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has used the emergency powers he has assumed since a failed putsch in July to continue a crackdown against Kurdish leaders. Almost 10,000 Kurdish teachers have been sacked, 28 mayors removed from their jobs, academics who have called for peace have been sued and at least 20 Kurdish-language television channels, including one that broadcast mostly cartoons, have been shut down.
Turkish riot police confront protesters in Diyarbakir © AFP
In recent weeks Mr Erdogan has pledged to exterminate the PKK and people he considers to be its supporters, stepping up rhetoric against the group as its brethren in Syria make advances on the battlefield.
In the last two months alone 900 people have been arrested.
The arrests threaten to destabilise an already battered part of the country, the Kurdish south-east, where earlier this year pitched battles between security forces and a youth militia of the PKK, destroyed swaths of its cities, including the historic heart of Diyarbakir.
Battle raging in eastern Turkey shatters Kurdish peace process
Young militants and Ankara’s forces fight for control, with little hope of negotiated settlement
Ms Kisanak had predicted her arrest in an interview with the Financial Times earlier this year in which she said the government would seek to silence Kurdish representatives.
The charges against her include making statements calling for autonomy and using public vehicles for the funerals of PKK militants, according to the semi-official Anadolu News Agency. Mr Anli is accused of using public funds to help build a cemetery for PKK militants. Neither could be reached for comment, and under emergency laws they may not have access to lawyers for another five days.
Earlier this year, Mr Erdogan stripped Kurdish parliamentarians of their immunity against prosecution, opening the door for the arrests of 50 of the 59 MPs that the HDP, the largest Kurdish party, has in parliament. Selahattin Demirtas, the leader of the HDP, is also being investigated by prosecutors; he has declined to answer questions, making his arrest likely.
Three Diyarbakir residents, interviewed by phone, said they had kept their children away from school on Wednesday and described large crowds on the streets, after a call from the HDP, the country’s largest Kurdish party, for protests starting at 11am. Residents said they had only intermittent access to the internet.
https://www.ft.com/content/80bd01d8-9b46-11e6-8f9b-70e3cabccfae
Gultan Kisanak, one of the most prominent Kurdish politicians in the country, and her colleague, Firat Anli, were arrested late on Tuesday night on charges that they diverted public funds to support the activities of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, which Turkey considers to be a terrorist organisation.
Commenting on the arrests, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief and Johannes Hahn, the commissioner in charge of Turkey’s EU membership bid, said Ankara needed to act against the PKK “in full respect of the rule of law, due process and fundamental freedoms — all commitments Turkey has made as an [EU] candidate country”.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has used the emergency powers he has assumed since a failed putsch in July to continue a crackdown against Kurdish leaders. Almost 10,000 Kurdish teachers have been sacked, 28 mayors removed from their jobs, academics who have called for peace have been sued and at least 20 Kurdish-language television channels, including one that broadcast mostly cartoons, have been shut down.
Turkish riot police confront protesters in Diyarbakir © AFP
In recent weeks Mr Erdogan has pledged to exterminate the PKK and people he considers to be its supporters, stepping up rhetoric against the group as its brethren in Syria make advances on the battlefield.
In the last two months alone 900 people have been arrested.
The arrests threaten to destabilise an already battered part of the country, the Kurdish south-east, where earlier this year pitched battles between security forces and a youth militia of the PKK, destroyed swaths of its cities, including the historic heart of Diyarbakir.
Battle raging in eastern Turkey shatters Kurdish peace process
Young militants and Ankara’s forces fight for control, with little hope of negotiated settlement
Ms Kisanak had predicted her arrest in an interview with the Financial Times earlier this year in which she said the government would seek to silence Kurdish representatives.
The charges against her include making statements calling for autonomy and using public vehicles for the funerals of PKK militants, according to the semi-official Anadolu News Agency. Mr Anli is accused of using public funds to help build a cemetery for PKK militants. Neither could be reached for comment, and under emergency laws they may not have access to lawyers for another five days.
Earlier this year, Mr Erdogan stripped Kurdish parliamentarians of their immunity against prosecution, opening the door for the arrests of 50 of the 59 MPs that the HDP, the largest Kurdish party, has in parliament. Selahattin Demirtas, the leader of the HDP, is also being investigated by prosecutors; he has declined to answer questions, making his arrest likely.
Three Diyarbakir residents, interviewed by phone, said they had kept their children away from school on Wednesday and described large crowds on the streets, after a call from the HDP, the country’s largest Kurdish party, for protests starting at 11am. Residents said they had only intermittent access to the internet.
https://www.ft.com/content/80bd01d8-9b46-11e6-8f9b-70e3cabccfae
