Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) announced that the number of party executives places under arrest throughout the country had reached 50 and branded the crackdown on its ranks as "unlawful and arbitrary".

"In an environment where Turkey enters an election atmosphere we regret the attacks and detentions stemming from the Prime Minister's attitude of showing our party as a target" a written statement by the DTP Executive Board said.

The statement noted that unlawful and arbitrary practices against party executives and mayors were on the increase and said party buildings were being raided, executives being detained and arrested after PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other state officials made the DTP a target.

Arbitrary practices concerning

The DTP stated that five provincial and nine district party chairmen were among the 50 DTP executives arrested so far and said this practice cast shadows on the democratic future of Turkey.

The statement said arbitrary practices would not defer the DTP from its democratic political struggle and warned against attempts to remove Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir from his seat, warning that the consequence of such an act would be to pour oil on a burning fire. (KO/EO/II/YE)