İdris Baluken

A Turkish regional appeals court on May 23 approved a prison sentence of 16 years and eight months handed down by a local court to Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy İdris Baluken.

Former co-leader of the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Figen Yüksekdağ, who was stripped of her status in parliament in February 2017, has been given another prison sentence in two other cases this week.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, who is currently under arrest, was sentenced on Feb. 21 to five months in prison on charges of "insulting the state and its institutions," while the party's Diyarbakır Deputy İdris Baluken was arrested for a second time in Ankara.

People's Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker İdris Baluken was detained again following an appeal against his release in a case filed as part of a terror investigation on Feb. 21, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported. 

The court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Feb. 17 had issued an arrest warrant for HDP Diyarbakır deputy Baluken.

A court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır on Feb. 17 issued an arrest warrant for Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır deputy İdris Baluken following an appeal against his release in the case filed as part of a terror investigation, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

Kurdish issue-focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Deputy Group Chair İdris Baluken has said "No" votes will increase in the upcoming constitutional referendum on whether to shift Turkey to an executive presidential system.

Following a two-week recess, Turkish lawmakers returned to their legislative duties on Feb.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has stressed that it the right to vote "no" in the upcoming referendum, which will decide whether Turkey's current parliamentary system should be shifted to an executive presidency.

Kurdish issue-focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) has said the detention and arrest of many HDP members could be part of a government plan to block and stigmatize the party's activities ahead of the referendum on shifting Turkey to an executive presidential system. 

A Diyarbakır court on Jan. 30 ordered the release of İdris Baluken, the deputy group chairman and lawmaker of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) from Diyarbakır, after nearly three months in jail.