Global Courant 2023-04-25 18:11:55
President Erdogan has been accused of cracking down on the PKK-affiliated opposition to rally support ahead of the elections.
Police in Turkey have arrested 110 people suspected of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) weeks before crucial elections.
Authorities said on Tuesday the detainees are suspected of funding the PKK in addition to recruiting members or conducting propaganda on behalf of the group, which Turkey and several Western countries consider a “terrorist” group.
The PKK has been at war with the Turkish state since 1984.
Turkish media reported that Tuesday’s raids were carried out in 21 provinces, including Diyarbakir in the southeast, which has a Kurdish majority.
The raids were carried out weeks ahead of May 14 parliamentary and presidential elections, which pose the biggest challenge to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade rule over Turkey.
Tayip Temel, deputy leader of the country’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP), directly linked the arrests to Erdogan’s efforts to secure a third term as president.
“On the eve of the elections, the government has again resorted to arrests for fear of losing power,” he tweeted.
Temel and several other sources said politicians, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists were targeted in the raids, the details of which are being kept under wraps.
The Diyarbakir bar association said on Twitter that lawyers are not allowed to contact their clients for 24 hours and suggested that the number of detainees could rise.
The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), a non-profit Turkish organization, said NGO leaders were among those who had searches carried out early in the morning.
Erdogan has found the toughest electoral test of his 20-year rule in opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Opinion polls give him a slight lead over the long-time Turkish leader.
The HDP has extended its tacit support to Kilicdaroglu by deciding not to field its own candidate in the presidential race. The HDP is not part of the main opposition alliance, but strongly opposes Erdogan over his policies towards the party and the PKK. The Turkish government has accused the HDP of having links to the PKK, and former HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas has been jailed after pleading guilty to threatening officials and insulting the president in several cases.
Erdogan’s support has taken a beating in recent years due to a struggling economy and accusations of authoritarianism. He was also criticized for his response to devastating earthquakes in February, which killed 50,000 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
Erdogan, who has been Turkey’s leader since 2003 and has held the presidency since 2014, still has strong support and could rise to the top together with his AK party.
