Turkey detains 11 pro-Kurdish MPs, including party co-chairs

FILE-In this Sunday, June 7, 2015 file photo, Selahattin Demirtas, left, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, (HDP) and Figen Yuksekdag, the other co-chair celebrate following a news conference in Istanbul. regarding their party's success at the elections. Authorities in Turkey detained 11 pro-Kurdish lawmakers early Friday, Nov. 4, 2016 as part of ongoing terror-related investigations, including Demirtas, Yuksekdag and other senior officials, the Interior Ministry said. The government accuses the HDP of being the political arm of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has fought an armed insurgency against the state for over three decades. The HDP rejects the accusation.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File) FILE-In this Sunday, June 7, 2015 file photo, Selahattin Demirtas, left, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, (HDP) and Figen Yuksekdag, the other co-chair celebrate following a news conference in Istanbul. regarding their party's success at the elections. Authorities in Turkey detained 11 pro-Kurdish lawmakers early Friday, Nov. 4, 2016 as part of ongoing terror-related investigations, including Demirtas, Yuksekdag and other senior officials, the Interior Ministry said. The government accuses the HDP of being the political arm of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has fought an armed insurgency against the state for over three decades. The HDP rejects the accusation.(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

By Associated Press November 4, 2016 2 min read

ISTANBUL (AP) – Authorities in Turkey detained 11 pro-Kurdish lawmakers early Friday as part of ongoing terror-related investigations, including both party co-chairs and other senior officials, the Interior Ministry said.

People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag as well as other prominent figures such as Sirri Sureyya Onder and Idris Baluken were among those detained, according to the ministry’s statement.

The detentions occurred in the middle of the night, with co-chair Demirtas describing on Twitter how he was taken into custody: “Police officials are at the door to my house in Diyarbakir with a detention warrant.” State-run Anadolu Agency reported co-chair Yuksekdag was detained in her home in Ankara.

The ministry says the detention warrants were issued by the chief public prosecutors of the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Sirnak, Hakkari, Van and Bingol.

Anadolu reported the lawmakers were detained for not appearing in court to testify for ongoing terrorism-related investigations.