S&D Group president Gianni Pittella has reacted to the detention of two co-leaders of the Kurdish Peoples Democracy Party (HDP) with the following statement:
"The S&D Group is devastated by the detention of the Kurdish Democratic Party HDP leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ and a dozen elected members of Parliament. This comes after the closure of Kurdish media outlets and the arrest of the co-mayor of Diyarbakir.
"We believe that political dialogue is the only way to normalise democracy in Turkey. The detention of members of parliament is another step backwards pushing Turkey even further from the EU. The HDP is our sister party, the democratic and peaceful branch representative of the Kurdish minority which represents 6 million voters. They must be set free."
