The HDP co-chair of Ortaklar in Aydin, Tekin Erikli, and HDP’s Muş co-chair, Abdulbari Yigit, were detained in morning raids to their homes, Arti Gerçek news site reported.

According to the report Erikli’s detention is due to social media posts, while the reason for Yigit’s detention remains unknown.

The Turkish government has long accused the HDP of sympathizing and acting in the interest of the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), an armed group that has been at war in Turkey for Kurdish self-rule for over 30 years.

Ankara has intensified a crackdown on the group following the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2020. Dozens of mayors who were elected from the HDP in the March 2019 local election in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority regions have been replaced by government-appointed officials and over a dozen arrested on terrorism-related charges.

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