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Corbyn condemns Turkish government's crackdown on sister party activists
The Labour leader broke the silence after mounting pressure from Kurdish activists in Britain who were dismayed by his party’s failure to speak out sooner
Police water cannon pro-HDP protesters in Diyarbakir

JEREMY CORBYN broke Labour’s silence today to condemn the crackdown on its Turkish sister party, after hundreds of pro-Kurdish HDP activists were arrested in a series of lightning raids.

At least 500 activists and journalists have been rounded up across Turkey this week amid a crackdown on the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Arrests have mainly taken place in the Kurdish south-east, but also at protests in Istanbul where police have blasted crowds with water cannon.

Several MPs had to be rushed to hospital after police targeted them.

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