Iran Press/Asia: Protesters flooded streets in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast that October, accusing the Turkish army of standing by as the ISIS terrorist group besieged Kobani in plain view just across the Syrian border. The protests led to the deaths of 37 people.
Turkish authorities accuse the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought for greater autonomy for the southeast since 1984, of inciting the demonstrations.
They also accuse the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) of links to the PKK and supporting the protests. The HDP denies links to terrorism.
Former HDP leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag have been in jail since 2016 on charges related to the Kobani protests.
In a statement on Friday, the Ankara prosecutor’s Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau said arrest warrants had been issued over several calls made to invite the public to the streets and carry out terror acts.
Those detained on Friday included the mayor of the northeasterly Kars province, Ayhan Bilgen, and former lawmaker Sirri Sureyya Onder, both prominent HDP figures, as well as some party executives.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
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