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Turkey arrests another pro-Kurdish legislator
ISTANBUL – Turkey’s pro-Kurdish political party says a court has ordered another of their lawmakers imprisoned on terror charges, raising the number of party legislators in jail to 12.
Ayhan Bilgen, the spokesman for the Peoples’ Democracy Party, or HDP, was ordered arrested pending a trial on Tuesday, accused of membership in an armed terror group.
The arrests of HDP legislators, including the party’s co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksedag, have increased fears over rights and freedoms in the country as it heads toward a referendum on increased powers for the president.
The government accuses the party — which defends minority rights — of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The HDP denies the accusation.
The PKK is considered a terror organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
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