Court arrests HDP deputy head Aysel Tuğluk

DİYARBAKIR

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A court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır arrested Aysel Tuğluk, the deputy head of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), late on Dec. 28, two days after her detention in Ankara, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Five people, including Tuğluk, had previously been referred to court as part of an investigation launched into the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

They had been detained on charges of “managing an armed terror organization” and “being a member of an armed terror organization.”

The local court in Diyarbakır later ordered for Tuğluk’s arrest on charges of “managing an armed terror organization.” 

Tuğluk’s arrest was criticized by the HDP, with the party’s lawmakers Meral Danış Beştaş and Osman Baydemir reacting to the decision on their Twitter accounts.

“The arrest of our deputy head Tuğluk targets our party’s struggle for law and rights. The struggle for rights and freedoms cannot be stopped,” Beştaş tweeted on Dec. 28. 

Baydemir also reacted to the decision, calling the arrest “fascism’s persistence in not resolving the issue.”

“This is fascism’s insistence in not finding a way to resolve the issue: Tuğluk has been arrested,” he tweeted. 

An official statement from the party was also released regarding her arrest. 

“Tuğluk’s arrest is the latest example in the judiciary’s partial and dependent actions,” said a tweet on the HDP’s official Twitter account. The party had previously called Tuğluk’s detention “unlawful.”

In November, 12 HDP MPs, including its co-leaders, Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, were arrested over their alleged links to the PKK.