Osman Baydemir, a pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy, was detained by Turkish police in İzmir province on Saturday evening over an arrest warrant issued by a Turkish court for him.
It was reported by Mezopotamya new agency that Osman Baydemir, who went to İzmir to attend a party program on Saturday, was detained by the police as he was traveling to İzmir Social Security Institution (SGK) Guesthouse to accommodate.
It was also reported that Baydemir was detained because he has not testified to legal authorities in the scope of an investigation carried out against him in Şırnak province.
Osman Baydemir reportedly waited his lawyers at the guesthouse before he was transferred to İzmir Police Department. Baydemir was released early Sunday after he gave his testimony to a local prosecutor.
Turkish government has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent times. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians as well as 9 HDP deputies, including the party’s co-chairs, are behind bars on terror charges.
