17 April 2017, 13:11 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Anadolu news agency, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party's lawmaker Meral Danis Bestas was remanded in custody in January for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization" as part of a terror probe by Diyarbakir’s Prosecutor's Office.
All HDP lawmakers in custody are reportedly believed to have ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization listed as terrorist in Turkey.
The party's co-chairs Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas were arrested in November 2016.
Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015 when a ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed because of a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK members.
The Kurds are living in parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. In Turkey, the Kurds represent the largest ethnic minority, and are striving to create their own independent state.
