Politics

Turkey arrests over 570 for criticising campaign against Syrian Kurds

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier warned that his security forces would "pulverize" anyone opposing the invasion of the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northwestern Syria.

Ari Khalidi 2018/02/05 08:43

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - Turkish authorities on Monday announced the arrest of 573 people for their criticism on social media or demonstrations against the military offensive targeting the Kurdish region of Afrin in northwestern Syria.

Turkey's campaign against US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces entered its third week over the weekend. It has reportedly killed over 150 civilians and wounding twice as many others.

In a press release on its website, the Interior Ministry said the individuals detained were accused of "propaganda for a terrorist organization."

Of those detained, 449 were taken into custody for their posts on social media while police arrested 124 others for protesting.

The judiciary also investigated 934 people and launched probes into 260 of them for "declaration of membership in a terror group, inciting hatred among the public, insulting government officials, and expressions targeting the indivisibility of the state" on social media.

The crackdown on social media follows President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning that security forces would "pulverize" anyone opposing the invasion of Afrin.

Eleven top executives of Turkey’s largest doctors’ union faced arrests last week after Erdogan labeled them “terrorist sympathizers” for a statement calling for peace.

The Turkish Football Association, meanwhile, handed a life-ban to German-Kurdish footballer Deniz Naki and fined him 273,000 Liras ($72,000) for “separatist and ideological propaganda” over a post in support of Afrin.

Erdogan had also warned the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) - already bracing an ongoing state crackdown since late 2016 that saw its Co-leader Selahattin Demirtas, nine lawmakers, 80 mayors, and thousands of members imprisoned - not to protest attacks on Afrin.

There are already eight HDP lawmakers investigated for their condemnation of Ankara's war the Syrian Kurds.

Last week, an Ankara prosecutor filed an investigation against HDP MP Osman Baydemir for his labeling the Turkish army as an "occupying force," and his call for NATO to intervene and stop Ankara's campaign.

Baydemir had earlier charged Erdogan with wanting to Arabize Afrin and displace the Kurds from there.

Editing by Nadia Riva