Erdoğan rejects criticism over recent KCK arrests

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has rejected criticism over the latest wave of arrests in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) case, implying that a prominent academic who was among those apprehended preached armed rebellion against the state, Trend reports.
“Those who defend the KCK must check themselves,” Erdoğan warned on Nov. 3 in remarks to reporters accompanying him on a flight from Berlin to Cannes for a G-20 summit.
Stressing that the BDP was following the KCK arrests on a daily basis, Beştaş said the figure stood at 3,457 people, contesting Şahin’s statement that only 752 suspects had been arrested since 2009. Meanwhile, Erdoğan also denied claims that the Turkish military had used chemical weapons in a recent offensive against the PKK in the Kazan Valley on the border with Iraq.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.