Turkey bans pro-Kurdish party leader from travelling abroad
ISTANBUL – Turkey’s state-run news agency says a court has banned the co-chair of the pro-Kurdish political party from leaving the country.
Figen Yuksekdag, co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party or HDP, is currently on trial for allegedly “disseminating terrorist propaganda” and “membership in an armed terrorist organization.” The charges stem from comments she made last year praising Syrian Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State group.
The Anadolu news agency says the court issued the travel ban Saturday after deciding Yuksekdag was a flight risk.
The government accuses the HDP of being the political wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party. The party denies the accusation.
In the past week, a pro-Kurdish mayor was sentenced to a year in prison, while another mayor and an assemblyman were detained on terrorism-related charges.
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