Thousands in Paris protest Turkey’s Kurdish crackdown

PARIS – Thousands of protesters have marched in Paris to protest Turkey’s detention of a pro-Kurdish party’s leaders amid a widening crackdown on opposition figures by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The demonstrators, most members of France’s Kurdish community, gathered in the Place de la Republique on Saturday and walked through the city to the Place du Chatelet. Waving Kurdish flags, they held banners reading “Stop Erdogan” and called for the release of those arrested.

Turkish authorities have arrested the two co-chairs of the People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, and several other party lawmakers for alleged ties to Kurdish militants. The move drew concern from the U.S. and the European Union.

Turkey accuses the HDP of being the political arm of outlawed Kurdish rebels, an accusation the party rejects.

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