Turkish police on Wednesday detained around 12 female politicians belonging the country’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic People’s Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) in the southeastern province of Şırnak, pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Police raided the homes of the politicians in the early hours of Wednesday, Mezopotamya said, detaining many politicians, including DBP’s provincial co chair Ayşe Altay and HDP’s mayoral candidate Berivan Kutlu, central Şırnak mayoral candidates for nomination Şirin Kılınç and Leyla Kılınç, DBP’s central Şırnak co chair Nuriye Bilir and DBP provincial parliament member Kumri Yürük.
The detentions arrive as Turkey prepares to the head the ballot boxes on March 31 for local elections.
Government appointed administrators (kayyim) have been running municipalities in the country’s Kurdish-majority southeast since the July 2016 coup attempt as part of a crackdown on the HDP, accused by Ankara of harboring sympathies and supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that has been in war in Turkey for over three decades.
More than 80 of the 103 elected mayors representing the HDP have been replaced with government-appointed administrators in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast.
Source: Ahval News
