In Turkey 118 people have been arrested in raids targeting officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) over allegations of links to PKK militants, according to state-run media. <br /><br /> The operations were launched after the TAK, an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdish group the PKK, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s twin bombings in Istanbul.<br /><br /> The authorities say the number killed has risen to 44, including 36 police officers. Around 150 were injured in the blasts outside a football stadium.<br /><br /> President Erdogan has promised that those responsible will pay a “heavy price”.<br /><br /> The pro-Kurdish HDP has condemned the attack but also urged the government to end what it called its language and politics of “polarisation, hostility and conflict”.<br /><br /> However many of its officials now find themselves in custody, notably after raids in Istanbul and southern Turkey. <br /><br /> Some leaders of the second-largest opposition group in parliament have already been jailed pending trial over alleged ties to the PKK – which many Turks believe was really behind the attacks.<br /><br /> There’s also a sense of grievance at a perceived lack of sympathy in the West, despite numerous atrocities.<br />
