Court bars HDP co-chair from leaving Turkey

ISTANBUL - Agence France-Presse

A Turkish court has barred a leader of an opposition party from leaving the country, accusing her of "belonging to an armed terrorist organisation," the state-run Anadolu news agency reported Oct.29.

Figen Yüksekdağ, co-chair of the People's Democratic Party (HDP), was also accused of "terrorist propaganda" and banned from leaving Turkey "because of activities that indicate she might flee" abroad, according to Anadolu.

The HDP denounced the decision as "totally arbitrary" and said it would appeal.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuses the HDP of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Hours after the ban on Yüksekdağ was announced, authorities ordered the closure of several pro-Kurdish media, including the Dicle News Agency, according to a decree published late on Oct. 29 in the Official Gazette.