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HDP take aim at weak and desperate government after 33 politicians jailed in first 10 days of October

TURKEY’S opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) responded today to the jailing of 33 of its senior politicians in the first 10 days of October by branding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “weak and desperate.” 

The party insisted it would continue the struggle despite the unlawful aggression targeting the country’s democratic opposition.

Operations against the HDP and the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) have intensified in recent weeks, with mass operations in towns and cities across the country.

More than 80 people were arrested last month, charged with terror offences related to 2014 protests in support of the Kurdish city of Kobane in northern Syria, which was under attack from Isis.

The HDP had called people onto the streets when the Turkish state refused to allow sympathisers to defend the city. Scores were killed in clashes with security forces — with the government blaming HDP for the deaths.

16 HDP members from Kars were detained last week for implementing a co-mayorship system, which allows for gender equality. They were also charged with running a family twinning campaign that raised financial support for poor families in Kars as part of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government has seized control of 54 of the 64 municipalities won by HDP in last year’s local elections, replacing democratically elected mayors with government-appointed trustees.

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