TURKEY – Turkey’s attorney general began a terrorism probe into the new leader of the pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party on Monday, a day after she was elected, accusing her of opposing the Turkish attack in Syria, reports Reuters.
Ankara’s attorney-general, Bruyn Boldan, accused the operation of an armed Kurdish group in Syria an attack on Kurdish civilians in a speech at the party conference he elected with Sazai, who co-opted two new co-leaders.
The prosecutor said a similar investigation had also been launched against Sari Surya Onder, a senior member of the Turkish parliament.
“The Attorney-General opened an investigation into lawmakers Barwin Boldan and Surrey Onder in crimes related to the publication of terrorist propaganda and incitement to hatred,” said a document from the prosecutor’s office.
The opening of the Attorney-General’s investigation is the first step in collecting evidence in order to indict and may result in the arrest of the accused.
Turkey launched an air and ground offensive called Operation Olive Branch against Kurdish People’s Protection Units in the northwestern Syrian region of Afrin last month.
The authorities say it will prosecute anyone who opposes or criticizes the military operation and that about 666 people have been arrested so far.
The People’s Democratic Party is the second-largest opposition party in parliament, and Boldan and Tlemli were elected co-chairs of the party at a general conference in Ankara. The former leaders of the party and a number of its senior members in prison for alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging a decades-long insurgency in Turkey. Party members deny the charges.
Turkey considers the units to protect the Syrian Kurdish people as an extension of the PKK and launched its operation in Syria to keep the fighters away from its southern border. This has complicated the relations between Turkey and its ally Washington, which supports people’s protection units in its fight against the organization of the Islamic state.
During her speech on Sunday, Boldan called for a halt to the Turkish operation in Syria and the revival of peace talks between the government and the PKK.
“They abandoned war policies that lead to pain and destruction. The solution is not in fighting, it is in peace.”
