Turkey orders arrest of 101, including lawyers, over alleged Kurdish militant links
Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for 101 people including lawyers in a wide-scale operation aimed at outlawed Kurdish militants, a judicial source said on Friday.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app
Police conducted simultaneous raids in Diyarbakir, in the Kurdish-majority southeast, Istanbul, Izmir and Adiyaman as part of an investigation into the Democratic Society Congress (DTK).
The group is accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Turkey and its Western allies designate the PKK a terror group. It has waged an insurgency against the state since 1984 which is believed to have killed tens of thousands.
Read more: Turkey orders 82 arrests, including Kurdish opposition members, over 2014 protests
Police rounded up at least 72 suspects, including 24 lawyers, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
Four others could not detained as they had tested positive for the coronavirus, the source said.
The Diyarbakir bar association condemned the latest arrests, which targeted 17 of its members.
“The Diyarbakir bar has never bowed to the threat of detentions and arrests and will never do so,” it said in a statement on Twitter.
“These operations indicate a desire to stifle the voice of the Diyarbakir bar and is a direct intervention in the activities of the civil society.”
The opposition pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has also been on the radar of Turkish authorities for its alleged links to the PKK and dozens of its mayors -- elected in the 2019 local elections -- have been ousted.
The HDP is Turkey’s second-largest opposition group in the parliament.
-
Turkey orders 82 arrests, including Kurdish opposition members, over 2014 protests
Turkey on Friday ordered the arrest of 82 people including members of a pro-Kurdish opposition party over violent protests in 2014 against an attack ... Middle East -
Turkey arrests 60 lawyers, 44 soldiers allegedly affiliated with Gulen movement
Turkish security forces arrested on Friday 60 lawyers and 44 soldiers, allegedly affiliated with a religious movement led by Fethullah Gulen on ... Middle East -
Turkey arrests journalist for ‘insulting’ Turkish sultan on Twitter
Turkish authorities arrested a journalist on Monday for “insulting” a medieval Turkish sultan on Twitter.Freelance Turkish journalist Oktay Candemir ... Middle East -
Turkey arrests four suspected of spying for France, says a report
Turkey has arrested four of its nationals on suspicion of spying for France on conservative and religious groups, a pro-government newspaper reported ... Middle East -
Turkey arrests senior member of far-left group DHKP/C in Izmir
Turkey arrested a senior member of the Kurdish-founded DHKP/C insurgency group in the country’s western Izmir province on Thursday, a senior security ... Middle East -
Turkey arrests prominent journalist on alleged espionage charges: Anadolu
A Turkish court has jailed a prominent opposition journalist from an online news outlet pending trial on alleged “military and political espionage” ... Middle East