Turkish prosecutors on Friday issued arrest warrants for the arrest of 82 people during a 2014 protest against the siege of the Islamic State in the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani.
The targets include members of the
pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) opposition party,
At least 18 suspects were detained’ during
police raids in seven provinces, according to the Anadolu Agency.
The agency said the suspects included the
current mayor of the eastern city of Cars, Ayhan Bilgen, six former HDP
lawmakers and other former party officials.
What were the Kobani protests?
In early October 2014, protesters took to
the streets in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, expressing outrage
that they saw the government's inaction against Islamic State militants
besieging Kobani.
The three-day protests killed 37 people
and injured hundreds.
What is the basis of an arrest warrant?
Ankara accuses the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) militant group of inciting protests. He also alleged that the HDP
had links with the PKK and supported the protest. The HDP, Turkey's
third-largest party, has denied the allegations.
Prosecutors in Ankara said arrest warrants
had been issued’ for "numerous calls to the public to take to the streets
and carry out terrorist acts", adding that suspects should be sought’ in
seven provinces. Will
The Ankara Prosecutor's Terror Crime
Investigation Bureau has launched an investigation into the PKK terrorist
organization and its so-called officials, as well as some political party
officials and members ... and, at the present stage, 82 suspects. People have
been ordered’ into custody, "said the prosecutor's office.
It was not immediately clear why
investigations were launched’ against 82 people just six years after the riots.
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