Turkey’s police rounded up more than 200 members of a Kurdish political party on Monday as the country mourned the dozens killed in a bomb attack near an Istanbul football stadium, state media reported.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said there were 235 arrests in 11 cities on terrorism-related charges and for spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.

The report did not specify the name of the organisation targeted or whether the individuals rounded up were suspected of involvement in a Saturday night attack outside a stadium in Istanbul that killed 44 people and wounded more 149 others, according to the latest tally.

Turkish state media earlier reported the morning raids focused on individuals linked to the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, in cities including Istanbul and Ankara, the capital.

Health Minister Recep Akdag said Monday the fatalities included 36 police officers and eight civilians. Funeral ceremonies continued in Istanbul with top officials in attendance

The attack following a Turkish Super League match caused deep shock in the football-loving nation and triggered patriotic demonstrations denouncing terrorism.

Taxi drivers drove round the recently inaugurated Besiktas stadium, named after the team and neighbourhood, waving Turkish flags.

Scores of demonstrators marched near Istanbul’s main police station to denounce the twin bombings in a rally organised by a union.

Demonstrator Gulay Firat said she wanted the widows, widowers and orphans to be avenged. “No one can tear this country apart,” she said.

The crowd chanted “Damn the PKK” and “We don’t want the PKK in parliament”, calling for the reintroduction of the death penalty.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other Turkish authorities accuse the HDP of supporting terrorism and having ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

The party, which was democratically elected to parliament in 2014, denies the accusation. Its two leaders are currently behind bars on terrorism-related charges.

Turkey is facing renewed conflict with Kurdish rebels in the southeast and has suffered a string of suicide bombings this year.

A Turkey-based Kurdish faction, known as the Freedom Falcons Movement, claimed responsibility for the twin bombings shortly after the end of a soccer match.

Known as TAK, the shadowy group is considered as an offshoot of the PKK. It has also claimed responsibility for two suicide bombing attacks in Ankara this year.

The group says its actions are revenge for the state-led violence in the southeast and for the detention of Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK leader and ideologue.

The decades-long conflict between PKK and the Turkish state has killed tens of thousands. Violence resumed after the collapse of peace talks in 2015

source : gulfnews