The Turkish army carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq in retaliation for the suicide attack which injured two police officers in front of the Interior Ministry on Sunday October 1. Ankara says it is targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which claimed responsibility for the attack. At the same time, on Turkish territory, the police carried out arrests in the ranks of the pro-Kurdish party this Monday, October 2 in the morning.
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With our correspondent in Istanbul, Anne Andlauer
This is the usual response from the Turkish authorities after a attack claimed by PKK : strikes against the bases of the armed group in northern Iraq, and arrests in Kurdish political circles. The Interior Ministry announced the custody of 20 members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, HDP, including regional leaders and spokespersons of the party.
The arrests took place in Istanbul and Kirklareli in Eastern Thrace. The authorities accuse them of having hidden members of “ the separatist terrorist organization “, in other words, from the PKK.
The HDP faces possible dissolution
Considered by the government as the political showcase of the PKK, the HDP is the second opposition party in Turkey. He obtained nearly 9% of the votes in the last legislative elections, but sits in Parliament under the colors of another party, the left-wing Green Party.
The HDP is in fact facing a trial before the Constitutional Court, which could lead to its dissolution and a ban on political life for 450 of its members, including its main executives. The HDP described “ unacceptable » the suicide attack in Ankara.
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