Kurdistan Workers' Party

An Istanbul court late on Saturday formally arrested a Turkish journalist over his social media posts on prosecutors investigating a mayor from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), his lawyer said.

A mayor from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was arrested late on Wednesday after prosecutors accused him of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), banned as a terrorist group in Turkey.

More than a dozen legislators from Turkey's pro-Kurdish party staged a demonstration in parliament on Tuesday to denounce the arrest and expulsion from office of a newly elected mayor, Turkish media reported.

On May 16, 2022, the Ankara 22nd Assize Court sentenced Selahattin Demirtas, former leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the most popular Kurdish politician in Turkey, to an excessive and lengthy 42 years in prison. 

Turkish President Recep Erdogan has agreed to submit the protocol for Sweden's accession to NATO to the parliament in Ankara for ratification as soon as possible.

This was announced in Vilnius by the Secretary General of the Pact, Jens Stoltenberg, after a meeting with Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

Supporters of Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) at a rally as part of Nowruz (Newroz), or Kurdish New Year, celebrations in Diyarbakir, Turkey, 21 March 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

The decision by the Migration and Asylum Ministry to proceed with the gradual closure of the Lavrio refugee camp due to objective criteria, namely the unsuitability of the site to continue hosting refugees, will also satisfy Turkey, which has constantly demanded its shutdown as it considers it a "training camp" for Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

Members of Pro-Kurdish party Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) shout slogans against government in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 September 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

"Our party will not give a verbal self-defence on April 11 against the attitude of the Constitutional Court, which means interference in free and fair elections," the HDP said in a statement.

The US Congress cannot support the $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey until Ankara ratifies the NATO memberships of Sweden and Finland, a bipartisan group of senators said on Thursday.

Sweden is confident that Turkey will approve its application to join the NATO military alliance, but will not meet all the conditions Ankara has set for its support, Sweden's prime minister said on Sunday.