The Turkish government shut down access to social media on Thursday night, while detaining elected officials from the country’s third-largest party.
Right-wing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian government, which is a member of NATO and a close Western ally, raided the headquarters of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or the HDP, a leftist, pro-Kurdish political party.
The HDP called on the international community to take action against what it described as the “Erdogan Regime’s coup.”
Happening Now! Raid on HDP Headquarters in Ankara @HDPgenelmerkezi https://t.co/neQLvCXuFi
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) November 3, 2016
Police raid in HDP HQ pic.twitter.com/XSN6G5Sha8
— DEM Party Foreign Affairs (@DEM_Diplomacy) November 4, 2016
HDP Vice Chair @idrisbaluken whle being detained earlier tonight. "You cant push my head light. I am the rep of ppl" https://t.co/ZJPhAt25IQ
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) November 4, 2016
Detention orders were issued for 15 HDP members of parliament. Journalist and analyst Mutlu Civiroglu cited a statement by the Ministry of Interior, which confirmed that 11 HDP MPs had been detained. Civiroglu said two more MPs were abroad and two more were in the process of being detained.
Among those detained were the party’s co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag. Houses of HDP deputies were raided and doors were broken down.
Demirtas tweeted, “Security forces are at my home door in Diyarbakir now, with a forced detention order.”
Ministry of Interior statement confirms 11 HDP MPs have been detained tonight. These are the names pic.twitter.com/9dfLRR3dMA
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) November 4, 2016
Policemen breaking into home of HDP Co-chair @FigenYuksekdag and detain her @HDPgenelmerkezi pic.twitter.com/47mSpEdsWE
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) November 3, 2016
Access to the internet was also limited. The monitoring group Turkey Blocks said Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were blocked in the country. It reported that restrictions were also placed on the messaging app WhatsApp.
Update: WhatsApp messaging service block in #Turkey confirmed, joining Twitter, Facebook and YouTube shutdownshttps://t.co/XA9JZaxn54 pic.twitter.com/XNusUu2rgW
— Turkey Blocks (@TurkeyBlocks) November 3, 2016
Countrywide internet connection slowdown or totally cut in Turkey to prevent reactions through social media.
— DEM Party Foreign Affairs (@DEM_Diplomacy) November 3, 2016
Internet slowed in Turkey, access to social media sites are restricted. Police are still in HDP headquarters in Ankara pic.twitter.com/VPLqVreEkJ
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) November 3, 2016
Since a failed coup attempt in July, the Western-allied Turkish government has purged more than 110,000 people and imprisoned nearly 40,000.
Opposition politicians from left-wing and secular parties have warned that the increasingly authoritarian President Erdogan is implementing a slow-motion counter-coup, restructuring the entire government and circumventing democracy.
Kurds in the diaspora held protests against the detentions. In the U.K., Kurds gathered outside the BBC for a demonstration. Protests were also announced for Friday in New York and Boston.
Kurds in Europe on the streets to protest detention of HDP MPs. Here are British Kurds in front of the @BBC pic.twitter.com/5URTJaCs1E
— Mutlu Civiroglu (@mutludc) November 4, 2016
(This article was updated several times after publication with breaking information.)
