Turkish president backs criminal probe into Kurdish opposition party leaders

• President Tayyip Erdogan threw his support behind a criminal investigation into the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.
• The call comes after a two-day meeting of Kurdish groups called for greater self-governance in Turkey’s embattled southeast region, where Erdogan’s government has attempted to quash a fresh wave of separatist sentiment led by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
• Erdogan has called for parliament to lift the political immunity of MPs to facilitate the investigation of politicians suspected of working with militants.

Read more:
“Turkish parliament to consider ‘lifting Kurdish leaders’ immunity’” (AFP, via Yahoo! 7 News)
“Erdogan backs criminal probe into Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition” (Reuters)

(Image Credit: Christian Hartmann/Reuters)