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Turkey HDP: Blast after pro-Kurdish leaders Demirtas and Yuksekdag detained Turkey HDP: Blast after pro-Kurdish leaders Demirtas and Yuksekdag detained
(about 3 hours later)
The two co-leaders of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition party, People's Democracy (HDP), have been detained along with at least nine other MPs. The joint leaders of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition party, People's Democracy (HDP), have been arrested along with at least nine other MPs.
Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag were detained at their respective homes as part of a counter-terrorism inquiry, security sources told Turkish media. Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag are accused of spreading propaganda for militants fighting the Turkish state.
Hours after the arrest of Mr Demirtas in Diyarbakir, a suspected car bomb exploded there, injuring 20 people. Hours after Mr Demirtas was arrested in Diyarbakir, a car bomb killed eight people and injured more than 100.
Diyarbakir, in the south-east, is Turkey's largest Kurdish-majority city. Militants have been fighting for years to achieve independence for the Kurds, Turkey's biggest ethnic minority.
Ambulances could be seen rushing to the scene amid reports of at least one death as a result of the explosion, close to a police building. Turkey remains under a state of emergency that was imposed after a failed military coup in July.
Ms Yuksekdag was detained in the capital, Ankara. The emergency allows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his cabinet to bypass parliament when drafting new laws and to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms.
Turkey remains under a state of emergency that was imposed after a failed coup in July. The emergency allows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his cabinet to bypass parliament when drafting new laws and to restrict or suspend rights and freedoms. A major escalation: Analysis by Mark Lowen, BBC Turkey correspondent
'Totally unlawful'
The detention order for the MPs is for alleged propaganda for the PKK Kurdish militants, suspected of being behind Friday's blast and a wave of recent attacks. The party strongly denies links to the group.
Police searched the HDP's head offices in central Ankara as well as making the arrests.
A major escalation: analysis by Mark Lowen, BBC Turkey correspondent
Mr Demirtas and the rest of the party say this is an attempt by President Erdogan to push the party out of parliament and increase his own power.
The government says those detained had failed to respond to a summons for questioning and issued an arrest warrant for two other HDP MPs currently abroad.The government says those detained had failed to respond to a summons for questioning and issued an arrest warrant for two other HDP MPs currently abroad.
This is a major escalation of a clampdown that has seen Kurdish media closed down and the mayor of Diyarbakir arrested.This is a major escalation of a clampdown that has seen Kurdish media closed down and the mayor of Diyarbakir arrested.
Hopes of an end to Turkey's decades-long Kurdish problem have evaporated since a ceasefire with the PKK broke down in 2015, leading to a wave of tit-for-tat attacks. Hopes of an end to Turkey's decades-long Kurdish problem have evaporated since a ceasefire with the [Kurdistan Workers' Party] PKK broke down in 2015, leading to a wave of tit-for-tat attacks.
Mr Demirtas elicited international support with his liberal politics but critics say he has failed to distance the party sufficiently from the PKK. Friday's detentions are likely to provoke more tension among Kurds - and more violence too.Mr Demirtas elicited international support with his liberal politics but critics say he has failed to distance the party sufficiently from the PKK. Friday's detentions are likely to provoke more tension among Kurds - and more violence too.
The PKK is deemed a terrorist organisation by the US, the European Union and Turkey. Why were the party leaders arrested?
Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Whatsapp were reported to be inaccessible inside Turkey shortly after the detentions, even when users tried to circumvent restrictions using a virtual private network (VPN). The government says they were detained for failing to co-operate with a counter-terrorism investigation, which the two leaders vowed to boycott in June.
Mr Demirtas had tweeted about his arrest before the sites were restricted. Defending the arrests, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said: "They did not respect the law."
Another MP from the party who is currently abroad, Ertugrul Kurkcu, told the BBC that the detentions were "totally unlawful". The MPs are also accused of spreading propaganda for the PKK, the Kurdish group suspected of a wave of recent attacks including Friday's car bomb.
He said: "This crackdown tonight is nothing to do with procedural law, criminal law, any law whatsoever or the constitution. This is an unlawful hijacking of HDP parliamentarians. Deemed a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and Turkey, the PKK has been fighting the state since the 1970s in a war which has claimed at least 40,000 lives.
"The Turkish government is heading towards a dictatorship of Nazi style [sic]. Will the Turkish government abide by the internationally accepted standards of parliamentary democracy? This is the basic question." Can MPs really be arrested just like this in Turkey?
Last month, the co-mayors of Turkey's largest Kurdish-majority city were detained, also as part of a terrorism investigation. Turkish politicians normally have immunity from prosecution but this was removed from the HDP and some other MPs in May.
Crackdown Last month, the joint mayors of Diyarbakir, Turkey's largest Kurdish-majority city, were also arrested as part of a terrorism investigation.
About 100,000 public sector employees with alleged links to the coup's alleged mastermind were subsequently purged from their jobs. Is the HDP linked to the PKK?
The HDP entered the Turkish parliament for the first time last year, when it won 59 seats and became the country's third-largest party. While commonly seen as the main pro-Kurdish party, HDP is an eclectic grouping which also appeals to leftists, liberals, environmentalists, gay rights activists and pious Muslims. That explains why it is Turkey's third-largest party.
Mr Demirtas has accused the ruling party of orchestrating nationalist attacks. It entered parliament for the first time last year, winning 59 seats.
Turkish politicians normally have immunity from prosecution but this was removed from the HDP earlier this year. During the election campaign, it carried a moderate message despite dozens of attacks against party supporters and offices, culminating in a deadly attack on its largest election rally in Diyarbakir two days before the vote.
The party strongly denies any links to the PKK.
Mr Demirtas and others accuse President Erdogan of seeking to push the party out of parliament and increase his own power.
One MP, who is currently abroad, told the BBC the government was acting like Nazis.
"This crackdown tonight is nothing to do with procedural law, criminal law, any law whatsoever or the constitution," Ertugrul Kurkcu said. "This is an unlawful hijacking of HDP parliamentarians."
Turkey's HDP party goes mainstream