Police have fired tear gas to disperse crowds of demonstrators in Istanbul.<br /><br /> Many are angry about the arrests overnight of several pro-Kurdish politicians.<br /><br /> Fighting broke out between police and protesters in a number of cities.<br /><br /> Officials say 10 protesters were detained in Ankara, five in Antalya and seven in Istanbul.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> What sparked the protests?<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The Turkish authorities have arrested the leaders of the country’s main pro-Kurdish opposition party as part of an ongoing terrorism inquiry.<br /><br /> The arrests have drawn criticism from the UN and EU, as part of a widening crackdown on dissent under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Who has been arrested?<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Officials say Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, co-leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) are in prison, having been held in overnight raids.<br /><br /> Ten other HDP lawmakers were also detained, although some were later released.<br /><br /> “I will not hesitate to be held accountable in front of a fair and impartial judiciary. There is nothing I cannot answer for,” Demirtas said in a statement to the prosecutor.<br /><br /> But I refuse to be an actor in this judicial theatre just because it was ordered by Erdogan, whose own political past is suspicious,” he continued.<br /><br /> Police also raided and searched the party’s head office in central Ankara.<br /><br /> Police cars and armed vehicles had closed off the entrance to the street.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /> Turkish opposition condemns arrest of Kurdish officials https://t.co/7oUh2oQB0E— Guardian World (@guardianworld) November 4, 2016<br /> <br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> What has the UN said?<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The arrest of elected members of parliament’s third-largest party, along with the detention or suspension of more than 110,000 officials since a failed coup in July, may “go beyond what is permissible”, according to senior human rights official Ravina Shamdasani.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Has there been other international reaction?<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Germany and Denmark have summoned Turkish diplomats over the Kurdish detentions.<br /><br /> The European Parliament President Martin Schulz says the actions “call into question the basis for the sustainable relationship between the EU and Turkey”.<br /><br /> EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini says she is “extremely worried” by the arrests and has called a meeting of EU national envoys in Ankara.<br /><br /> There is heightened concern among Western allies about the political direction of Turkey, a NATO member and a buffer between Europe and the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> What has Turkey said?<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> “Turkey is a nation of laws, nobody has preferential treatment before the law. What has been done is within the rule of law,” Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters.<br /><br /> “Politics cannot be a shield for committing crimes.”<br /><br /> Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavosoglu has accused EU member states of supporting the PKK.<br /><br /> He has dismissed the bloc’s criticism as “unacceptable”.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> What has the HDP said?<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The HDP made history last year by becoming the first Kurdish party
