Turkey detains pro-Kurdish party MP in night raid

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Turkish police detained Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentarian Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu early Sunday morning in a night raid, according to the party. The lawmaker was stripped of his position by a court on Wednesday.

"Our deputy Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, who is continuing his justice watch in the Turkish Grand National Assembly, was detained by the police," reads a tweet from the HDP, referring to the sit-in the lawmaker and other parliamentarians in his party have been staging since his removal from office.

Gergerlioglu is an outspoken lawmaker for Turkey's main pro-Kurdish opposition. He was stripped of his parliamentary membership on Wednesday for a tweet he made in 2016 and was sentenced to two years and a half on February 21, 2018. He had been staging a sit-in at parliament alongside other parliamentarians in his party since his removal.

The tweet shared an article that included part of a statement from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) saying, "peace would come if the government takes one step forward."

"He was arrested while making wudu (ablution) to pray fajr," explained Husein Kacmaz, a HDP MP and deputy of Sirnak, in a video tweeted by the party, adding that he was detained by force and wasn't given time to change his clothes or pray.

"Hundreds of police members rushed through this corridor, hundreds," added the lawmaker.

"Deputy Gergeriloglu represents the people," said Filiz Kerestecioglu, a member of the parliament for HDP. "I ask the people to not believe what is written in the newspapers and to believe what comes from us only."

Top Turkish officials have accused the HDP of being the political wing of the PKK, leading to the arrests of scores of their politicians - including former co-chairs and parliamentarians and members - in recent years on terror charges.

Former HDP-co chair Selahattin Demirtas was detained in November 2016, along with a number of other party officials and parliamentarians for their alleged links to the PKK.

The party denies any links to the PKK.

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