Turkish President Erdogan makes a speech during a congress in Istanbul on Nov. 4, 2016. (Photo: Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Reuters)
ANKARA (Reuters)—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Europe on Sunday of abetting terrorism by supporting Kurdish militants and said he did not care if it called him a dictator.
Turkey drew international condemnation for the arrest on Friday of leaders and lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the second-largest opposition grouping in parliament, as part of a terrorism investigation.
The government accuses the HDP, which made history last year by becoming the first Kurdish party to win 10 percent of the vote and enter parliament, of financing and supporting an armed Kurdish insurgency, which it denies.
The HDP announced a partial boycott of parliament on Sunday, saying it was “halting its legislative effortsâ€
