Protests in Turkey<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Supporters of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) clashed with police during an anti-government protest in Istanbul on Saturday.<br /><br /> Turkish police fired water cannon and tear gas.<br /><br /> Hundreds of protesters were trying to march to the Cumhuriyet newspaper after <br />several staff were arrested.<br /><br /> A Reuters reporter at the scene described tear gas filling some streets in the Sisli neighbourhood of Istanbul.<br /><br /> The protest in central Istanbul came hours after Turkish authorities ordered the formal arrest of nine staff members of the opposition newspaper.<br /><br /> More Kurdish officials have been arrested, widening an anti-terrorism inquiry that has drawn condemnation from the abroad.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Protests in Germany<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Around 6,500 Kurdish supporters demonstrated peacefully in the German city of Cologne on Saturday.<br /><br /> They criticised Germany for not doing enough to stop Erdogan’s government from detaining and suspending officials, including judges, teachers, police and civil servants in the wake of a failed military coup in July.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Friday’s arrests<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The demonstrators are also protesting the arrest of 12 pro-Kurdish lawmakers on Friday by Turkish authorities.<br /><br /> Those arrested included HDP co-leader Selahattin Demirtas, Turkey’s state-run news agency Anadolu reported.<br /><br /> The agency says Demirtas has been taken to a maximum security prison in the northwestern city of Edirne.<br /><br /> The 12 party legislators were detained for refusal to testify on terror-related charges, according to Turkish officials.<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> Who are the HDP?<br /><br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> The HDP is Turkey’s third-largest party.<br /><br /> It made history last year by becoming the first Kurdish-rooted party to win the 10% of the vote required to enter parliament.<br /><br /> Erdogan and the governing AK Party accuse the HDP of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has carried out a violent insurgency in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast for three decades.<br /><br /> The HDP denies direct links and says it is working for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict.<br />
