Kurdish lawyer arrested on “terrorist propaganda” chargesOctober 20, 2015 - 14:50 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Police arrested a senior Kurdish lawyer in southeast Turkey before dawn on Tuesday, October 20, on a charge of terrorist propaganda after he said the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was not a terrorist group, Reuters reports. Supporters, including lawyers and local politicians, gathered at Tahir Elci's office in the region's largest city Diyarbakir, chanting "pressure will not intimidate us", before he was flown to Istanbul. Elci, head of Diyarbakir province's bar association, made his assertion on CNN Turk TV last week, at a time when fighting is raging between PKK militants and government security forces, and tensions are mounting before Nov. 1 elections. "Even if some of the PKK's acts have a terrorist character, the PKK is an armed political movement," he said during a discussion program. "It is a political movement with political demands and with very strong support in society." The PKK, deemed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, has been fighting an insurgency since 1984, demanding greater Kurdish autonomy in the mainly Kurdish southeast. The conflict has killed about 40,000 people. The state launched a peace process with the group's jailed leader in 2012 but a ceasefire collapsed in July and hundreds have died in the subsequent conflict. Accompanied by his supporters, Elci waited in his office on Monday night for the police to arrive and execute the arrest warrant issued by an Istanbul court - a decision which had been leaked by Turkish media during the evening. Police from Turkey's anti-terror force took him away at around 2:20 am (2320 GMT), said witnesses. He was due to be questioned in a courthouse in Istanbul's Bakirkoy district, the state-run Anadolu new agency said. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. Azerbaijan razes historic Armenian church to ground Azerbaijan has demolished the historic Armenian Church of St. John the Baptist (known as Kanach Zham). Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills |