ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish police on Tuesday detained over 40 people, including lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), across Turkey as a part of a new investigation in relation to the 2014 Kobane riots.
Ankara’s Chief Public Prosecutor launched a new investigation in the Kobane case, issuing an arrest warrant for 91 people on charges of violating Turkey’s 6415 law on the prevention of financing terrorism, reported Cumhuriyet newspaper.
Among those issued a warrant, 46 people were arrested in police raids across 13 provinces in Turkey, it added.
Over 30 people were killed and more than 700 were injured across Turkey – especially its Kurdish region (Bakur) in the southeast - during the days-long 2014 protests against the Islamic State (ISIS) siege of the Syrian-Kurdish town of Kobane. The protesters accused the Turkish army of standing by ISIS militants besieging the town.
The detainees are accused of taking part “in the financial structuring of the Kobane incidents and provided financial assistance to the families of dead or injured Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] members,” said Cumhuriyet.
An ongoing trial against more than 100 people who took part in the protests began in Ankara in April of last year. The hearings are often suspended for different reasons.
Top Turkish officials have accused the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, leading to the arrests of scores of their politicians in recent years on terror charges. The HDP denies any links to the PKK.
The police raided HDP’s office in Sirnak on Monday, arresting at least five of its members.
Ankara’s Chief Public Prosecutor launched a new investigation in the Kobane case, issuing an arrest warrant for 91 people on charges of violating Turkey’s 6415 law on the prevention of financing terrorism, reported Cumhuriyet newspaper.
Among those issued a warrant, 46 people were arrested in police raids across 13 provinces in Turkey, it added.
Over 30 people were killed and more than 700 were injured across Turkey – especially its Kurdish region (Bakur) in the southeast - during the days-long 2014 protests against the Islamic State (ISIS) siege of the Syrian-Kurdish town of Kobane. The protesters accused the Turkish army of standing by ISIS militants besieging the town.
The detainees are accused of taking part “in the financial structuring of the Kobane incidents and provided financial assistance to the families of dead or injured Kurdistan Workers’ Party [PKK] members,” said Cumhuriyet.
An ongoing trial against more than 100 people who took part in the protests began in Ankara in April of last year. The hearings are often suspended for different reasons.
Top Turkish officials have accused the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, leading to the arrests of scores of their politicians in recent years on terror charges. The HDP denies any links to the PKK.
The police raided HDP’s office in Sirnak on Monday, arresting at least five of its members.
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