Erdogan steps up crackdown on Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party and civil society
The HDP, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, is facing renewed pressure in Turkey amid rising calls for its closure by nationalist politicians in Ankara. HDP members are being increasingly targeted after the deaths of 13 Turkish hostages in Iraqi Kurdistan earlier this month following a botched rescue operation. Merve Tahiroglu, the Turkey Program Coordinator at the Project on Middle East Democracy, discusses this latest crackdown on Turkey’s third largest political party, and explores what the implications are for Turkish democracy.
Read Merve Tahiroglu's article here: Erdoğan Uses Tragic Killings to Criminalize Kurdish Politics, Civil Society
You can read the articles we discuss on our podcast here:
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party under pressure as calls increase for its closure
Erdoğan’s war on peace: The Gergerlioğlu case
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