Former HDP MP detained at Istanbul Atatürk Airport

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

In this file photo, Sebahat Tuncel speaks to the Associated Press at the headquarters of the Democratic Society Party, or DTP, in Ankara, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. AP Photo

Former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Sebahat Tuncel was briefly detained at passport control in Istanbul Atatürk Airport ahead of her flight to Brussels. 

Tuncel, also the spokesperson for the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), was transferred to the prosecutor’s office in Bakırköy after testifying at the airport. 

Announcing her detainment on her Twitter account, Tuncel said a ban on leaving the country was imposed on her due to the speeches she delivered between 2010 and 2013. 

“The issuance of a warrant before a service of summons is a political decision by the public prosecutor,” Tuncel tweeted. 

Tuncel was released following her testimony while the ban on leaving the country remains in effect.