A Kurdish politician has been abducted by the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s secret service in Iraq and handed over to Turkey to use as leverage in President Erdoğan’s election campaign, said the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).
Azime Arsun was seized by Parastin agents at Hewler airport and handed over to the Turkish intelligence service (MİT), said the KCK’s Foreign Relations Committee.
The politician has been actively involved in the Kurdish freedom movement for many years and was based in Şırnak (Şirnex), a Kurdish-majority province of Turkey.
Arsun disappeared from the airport on 2 May and has not been heard from since. She was travelling abroad to seek medical treatment for a serious illness.
Women’s rights organisations must take action to find Arsun, and ensure both her safety and physical health, stressed the KCK.
“It is shameful that the KDP detained a revolutionary Kurdish woman in this way and to try to use her for its dirty relations with the Turkish state. The KDP and Parastin are therefore responsible for the fate of our friend Azime Arsun,” said the KCK.
