Turkish gov’t detains pro-Kurdish DBP’s Bağcı, co-mayor of Van’s Özalp district

Handan Bağcı, co-mayor of Özalp district municipality in Van province which was usurped by the Turkish government from pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and a trustee was appointed, has reportedly been detained during a raid on her house in Van on Wednesday morning.

Reports suggest that her sister Gülistan Bağcı was also detained alongside Handan Bağcı. Bağcı has been taken to Van provincial security department. The co-mayor Bağcı had been jailed in 2015 and released in April 2016 after one and a half years in jail.

Turkish government has detained about 11,000 pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) members in the last two years and put 4,500 of them in prison, HDP Spokesperson Ayhan Bilgen said on Tuesday.

Addressing the parliamentary group of HDP, Bilgen said of those put in prison or pre-trial imprisonment 750 were heads of township branches. Among them are the party’s co-leader Selahattin Demirtas and 10 other deputies who the police arrested in simultaneous midnight house raids a year ago.

HDP’s sister Democratic Regions’ Party (DBP) have also come under the crackdown, with over 2,500 of its members, including 80 mayors remaining in prisons across Turkey.

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