Swedish Foreign Minister: Turkey must return to peace process

‘‘The arrest of the two leaders of the Turkish opposition party HDP, Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, along with several other party members the night of today is extremely worrying. They can not be seen as isolated cases but as a continuation of a longer period of action against HDP representatives. We expect that these elected representatives are released. The arrests risk fueling the already existing tensions in the country. They follow the earlier arrests of representatives of civil society and the media, most recently symbolized by the arrest of the chief editor of the newspaper Cumhuriyet. Freedom of the media and the opposition are prerequisites for a pluralistic democratic society; that these groups attacked is ominous" read the statement.

It is important that Turkey will return to normalization and dialogue between the opposition and government resumes. A return to the peace process is necessary for the country's further democratization and stability of the region. It is important that the EU Member States react together for human rights and the rule of law in Turkey is maintained" added Swedish Foreign Minister Margor Wallström in her statement.