GUE/NGL President Gabi Zimmer has reacted strongly to the violent attack by Turkish police against a former GUE/NGL MEP, Feleknas Uca, currently serving in the Turkish Parliament as a member of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) while she took part in a demonstration against the arrest of the co-mayors of Diyarbakir in south-eastern Turkey:

“We condemn the attacks against Feleknas Uca and worry about her health situation after a brutal assault by Turkish policy during a demonstration. We are deeply troubled at the continued Turkish repression of its Kurdish citizens and call for the immediate release of all those arrested in this latest crackdown.”

Kurdish media reports that Turkish authorities want to replace the arrested mayors with nationalists loyal to Ankara. Protesters took to the streets across the Kurdish region to express their opposition to the arrests as the Governor announced a ban on public gatherings. 

Feleknas Uca was an MEP with GUE/NGL between 1999 and 2009. During her tenure, she was a member of the Kurdistan Friendship Group in the Parliament and defended a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish question. Turkish authorities have continuously harassed members of the HDP party and in 2012 Uca had been detained by Turkish police amid international condemnation.

“Attacks by the Turkish military and police against the Kurdish community must cease. We call for an urgent resumption of political dialogue in Turkey to peacefully resolve the Kurdish question,” Zimmer concluded.