Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şanlıurfa deputy and spokesperson Osman Baydemir was detained in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Friday. Baydemir was released after giving a statement at the Prosecutor’s Office in the same day.
A detention warrant was issued for Baydemir on May 30 by the Diyarbakır 4th Penal Court of First Instance on charges of insulting a public servant. Baydemir was detained while visiting the Diyarbakır Bar Association.
On Monday HDP Siirt deputy Besime Konca, who was released by a Batman court on May 3 after spending five months in pre-trial detention, was arrested again due to a warrant issued by another Batman court on May 8.
Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent months. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians as well as 11 HDP deputies including the party’s co-chairs have been arrested on terror charges. (turkishminute.com) June 2, 2017
