Two Kurdish deputies were beaten by the police and one of them was hospitalized during a protest in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority city of Yuksekova on Sunday. The protest was held on the occasion of the anniversary of Abdullah Öcalan’s enforced departure from Syria.
The incident on 9 October 1998 marks the beginning of a series of events that resulted in the abduction of Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), on 15 February 1999 in Kenya’s capital through a joint operation by the US and Turkish intelligence agencies.
Habip Eksik and Sait Dede, both deputies for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in the Turkish Grand Assembly, were targeted by the police in Yuksekova, and they were physically assaulted and dragged on the ground, according to a report by Mezopotamya News Agency (MA).
At least 20 people were arrested, including MA reporter Mazlum Engindeniz, JinNews reporter Rabia Onver, and HDP’s local branch co-chair Sores Diri, MA said.
Journalist Rusen Takva said on Twitter that there was a bone fracture in Eksik’s foot, resulting from the police violence.
While demonstrations were staged in several other Kurdish-majority cities, further arrests have been reported, most of them in Diyarbakir, Van and Istanbul.
Over 50 people have been reported to be arrested in Diyarbakir alone, including local branch co-chairs of HDP, +Gercek said. 55 were arrested in Van, and at least 26 in Istanbul.
Source:gerceknews
