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HDP defiant after further arrests of party officials

TURKEY’S People’s Democratic Party (HDP) struck a defiant tone on the sixth anniversary of its founding as further arrests of party officials were made in Van province today.

“Our party is six years old. They haven’t beaten it in six years. They won’t beat it in 60 years.

“They won’t end that belief because we are the message of hope,” the party said in a statement.

The party is accusing authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of carrying out “political genocide” against Kurds, with hundreds of its officials taken into custody in the past few weeks.

Party officials were arrested in the eastern Van province yesterday and police raids were conducted further west in the village of Lice in Diyarbakir.

Former co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag remain in prison and face lengthy sentences on trumped-up terrorism charges.

An HDP source told the Star: “After dismissing 259 local officials, the Interior Ministry now detains one in Van.

“More local officials will most likely get detained, even jailed, as Turkey moves closer to local elections.”

The party will launch its campaign for the 2019 poll in Diyarbakir on Saturday.

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