Turkey detains nine politicians in Mersin for alleged PKK links

Turkey detains nine politicians in southern Mersin province over terrorism charges on Wednesday, including a city council member of the main opposition CHP and district administrators of the pro-Kurdish HDP.

The Mersin Chief Prosecutor's office has issued arrest warrants for a total of 12 people over allegedly making propaganda of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Diken news website reported.

Mersin’s Toroslar district municipality’s council member H.B. from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), the head of People's Democratic Party’s (HDP) Toroslar district office I.D., the head of HDP’s Akdeniz district office N.E. and six other HDP district administrators were detained, within the scope of the operation carried out with the support of the special operations police at the designated addresses, it said.

The security forces are seeking arrest of three others, Diken said.

The PKK is an outlawed armed group in Turkey, fighting an insurgency for Kurdish autonomous rights since 1984. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

Turkey under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intensified a crackdown on Kurdish groups in the recent years, mainly on the country’s second largest opposition HDP, blaming them of having links with the PKK.