2nd LD: Turkish pro-Kurdish party co-chairs, lawmakers detained

Co-leaders of Turkey's pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, and nine lawmakers from the party were detained early Friday as part of a terrorism investigation, Hurriyet News reported.

The detention and search warrants were issued due to "strong suspicions based on solid evidence," the Diyarbakir prosecutor's office said in a written statement.

According to Anadolu News Agency, the detentions were ordered because the politicians refused to testify for crimes linked to terrorist propaganda.

Turkish main opposition Republican People's Party chair Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on Friday that the actions are sending Turkey "in a dangerous direction," as they are attempts to prepare for a presidential system in Turkey.

In reply to Kilicdaroglu's query, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said who engages in "terror" should "pay the price."

"Politics cannot be a shield for committing a crime. Turkey is a state of law," Yildirim told journalists. "The superiority of the law is fundamental."

The prime minister said HDP members should have given their testimonies when summoned by Turkish state authorities.

The HDP is the third-largest party in the 550-member Turkish parliament, with 59 seats.

On May 20, 2015, Turkish parliament approved a bill to amend the constitution to strip lawmakers of immunity from prosecution, a move that paves the way for charging pro-Kurdish and other opposition legislators. Endit