Protesters refuse to allow body of mother of detained politician to be interred in Ankara
A Kurdish politician in Turkey was forced to exhume the body of her mother after a mob disrupted the burial in Ankara.
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Aysel Tugluk, who is on trial facing terrorism charges, was allowed special dispensation to attend the funeral of her mother, Hatun who died this week.
The funeral was conducted at night in an effort to avoid confrontations but a gang of protesters nevertheless turned up and shouted threats against the family.
Following warnings that the body would be dug up, Tugluk’s family decided to disinter the coffin themselves and rebury it in their home province of Tunceli.
Aysel Tugluk was a leading member of parliament in the opposition HDP party but has frequently been accused of links with the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is recognised as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and the European Union. She was most recently arrested in December accused of crimes including spreading terrorist propaganda.
The country’s deputy prime minister and government spokesman Bekir Bozdağ condemned the attack.
“A judicial investigation has been launched into those individuals who are responsible for these ugly scenes. They will be prosecuted for what they did.” he said.