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 Dozens of Turkey's pro Kurdish BDP members arrested - again  

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Dozens of Turkey's pro Kurdish BDP members arrested - again  15.2.2010 

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February 15, 2010

DIYARBAKIR, Kurdish Southeastern region of Turkey, — In operations carried out in eleven provinces last weekend the police arrested more than 100 people, most of them members of the Peace and Democracy Party. Of all people arrested in Hakkari, 15 persons were taken into detention.

The police carried out operations on 12 and 13 February in the cities of Adana, Diyarbakir, Van, Siirt, Batman, Mardin, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Muş and Istanbul on 12 an13 February. According to Fırat News Agency, more than 200 people were arrested, Anatolian Agency and TRT speak of more than 100 people.                   
32 people were arrested in the province of Hakkari in the south-eastern corner of the country, 15 of them were taken into detention on Sunday (14 February) under charges of "membership of the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The media labelled the on-going operations "KCK operations", allegedly aimed at the Union of Kurdistan Societies. Most of the people arrested are members and local executives of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

According to an official announcement made by BDP 131 people were arrested on 13 February, among them party council members, executives from the women and youth council,
www.ekurd.netcounty commissioners and district executives. BDP stated, "We know that this injustice carried out in the name of KCK operations was directed by the [ruling] AKP [Justice and Development Party]". BDP called "for an end of this sort of operations that were clearly done to create a provocative tension" and for the release of the people taken into custody.

Approximately 1,500 arrests since 14 April 2009

During a visit of detained party members in the Diyarbakır E Type Prison, BDP co-chairs Gültan Kışanak and Selahattin Demirtaş declared that since 14 April 2009 at least 1,400 were arrested in the scope of this operation, about 900 of them were taken into detention; party headquarters executives, mayors, heads of provincial councils, and provincial executives among others.

After the closure of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) by the Constitutional Court towards the end of last year, many former DTP members and executives joined BDP. DTP officials told bianet that the arrested and detained persons were candidates that won the local elections on 29 March 2009 and other active party members and executives.

PKK

Since 1984 PKK took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan) which has claimed around 45,000 lives of Turkish soldiers and Kurdish PKK guerrillas. A large Turkey's Kurdish community openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK rebels.

The PKK is considered a 'terrorist' organization by Ankara, U.S., the PKK continues to be on the blacklist list in EU despite court ruling which overturned a decision to place the Kurdish rebel group PKK and its political wing on the European Union's terror list.

The PKK demanded Turkey's recognition of the Kurds' identity in its constitution and of their language as a native language along with Turkish in the country's Kurdish areas,
www.ekurd.net the party also demanded an end to ethnic discrimination in Turkish laws and constitution against Kurds, ranting them full political freedoms.

Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish language and private Kurdish language courses with the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians say the measures fall short of their expectations.

Last August, the government announced plans to expand Kurdish freedoms in a bid to erode popular support for the PKK and end the insurgency.

The Kurdish south of Turkey erupted in protests in December in the wake of the ban and officials have rounded up scores of pro-Kurdish politicians as tensions escalate.
 
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