The arrested co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtaş, sent a message on Friday through his lawyer, calling the ongoing crackdown against the Kurdish opposition a different phase of a civilian coup taking place under the pioneering of the government and the president.
“My friends and I will continue to stand firm against this unlawful coup any place, at any time,” Demirtaş vowed after his arrest. He also promised to pursue the struggle for peace and freedom. “We will continue our democratic political struggle no matter the conditions,” Demirtaş stated in his message.
After several HDP deputies were rounded up in the early hours of Friday, eight Kurdish lawmakers including the two co-chairs of the party were arrested on Friday afternoon.
The Doğan news agency has reported that HDP Co-chairs Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ have been taken to Kandıra Prison in Kocaeli, where the previously arrested co-mayors of Diyarbakir Gültan Kışanak and Fırat Anlı are currently being held.
