Islam Times - Kurdish party demands answers over members’ interrogation

Islam Times - The Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party says its members face constant interrogation by the Kurdistan Region’s security and intelligence forces. The forces belong to one of the Kurdistan Region’s two ruling parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Kurdistan’s Solution Party is demanding answers, claiming that its members have been arrested on many occasions and detained for investigation for several days.

The Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party says it encountered these problems before but they have become much more frequent over the past month.

The party cited one example from last week. Three party members wanted to visit Makhmur Camp in Arbil, which houses refugees from Turkey. Security forces stopped the members at Makhmur Camp checkpoint. The members were not allowed to enter the camp after waiting under the intense sun for one hour. The party said checkpoint security forces also confiscated the members’ identity cards and registered their names.

The Democratic Solution Party says intelligence and security forces view the party as a branch of the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.

The PKK is an armed organisation, which has been fighting mainly against Turkey for an autonomous Kurdistan and more rights for Kurds in Turkey.

But the Solution Party says it is not a branch of the PKK. The Solution Party has been operating in the Kurdistan Region for ten years but has never been granted a license.

The Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party says it will take court action if the harassment and interrogation do not stop.

As source from Kurdistan’s Security Directorate said that these party members do not have a residency card and they are not from the Kurdistan Region. That’s why they are being investigated. But the party said those who are interrogated include members who are originally from the Kurdistan Region.