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Turkish Authorities Launch Investigation Against Pro-Kurdish MP Over Militant Links

HDP's Dirayet Dilan Tasdemir
HDP's Dirayet Dilan Tasdemir
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Turkish Authorities Launch Investigation Against Pro-Kurdish MP Over Militant Links

HDP's Dirayet Dilan Tasdemir
HDP's Dirayet Dilan Tasdemir

Turkish authorities are investigating a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) over suspected militant links, prosecutors said on Sunday, after a minister said the lawmaker had visited an area in northern Iraq where 13 Turks were killed.

President Tayyip Erdogan, his ruling AK Party and their ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) accuse the HDP of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the HDP denies.

The HDP has come under renewed pressure this week after the government said that fighters from the PKK had executed 13 Turkish captives in Iraq's Gara region, including military and police personnel. The PKK said the captives had died during clashes in the area.

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told broadcaster A Haber on Saturday that the HDP's Dirayet Dilan Tasdemir had visited Gara, according to an account by someone he said was a PKK militant who had surrendered. Ankara says the PKK have several bases in Gara.

Prosecutors in Ankara said on Sunday that Soylu's comments were considered a notice and that an investigation had been launched into Tasdemir's links to an armed terrorist organization.

Tasdemir, in a tweet on Saturday, had denied Soylu's comments.

"This country's interior minister made a statement giving my name based on the so-called accounts of one person. We will prove that this is a giant lie and slander," she wrote.

Many prominent HDP members have been investigated, tried, and jailed over terrorism charges. Selahattin Demirtas, the party's former leader and one of Turkey's most prominent politicians, has been in jail for more than four years.

On Friday, Turkey's top appeals court approved a jail sentence against another HDP lawmaker on terrorism charges, potentially opening the way to revoking his parliamentary membership.

Turkey has carried out several cross-border operations into northern Iraq against the PKK, which has waged an insurgency in the mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey since 1984. It is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and European Union.

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Iranian Man, Romanian Woman Charged Over Attempt to Enter UK Submarine Base

A photograph shows a general view of HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, north-west of Glasgow, Scotland on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph shows a general view of HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, north-west of Glasgow, Scotland on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Iranian Man, Romanian Woman Charged Over Attempt to Enter UK Submarine Base

A photograph shows a general view of HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, north-west of Glasgow, Scotland on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
A photograph shows a general view of HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, north-west of Glasgow, Scotland on March 14, 2026. (AFP)

An Iranian man and a Romanian woman have been charged after attempting to enter Britain's nuclear submarine base in Scotland, Police Scotland said on Saturday.

The two, who British media have ‌called suspected ‌Iranian spies, were ‌arrested ⁠on Thursday.

The charges ⁠come three weeks into the US-Israeli war on Iran. While Britain has not taken part in the ⁠attacks on Iran, the ‌country's ‌forces have downed Iranian missiles ‌and drones in the ‌Gulf region.

HM Naval Base Clyde is located on the west coast of ‌Scotland and is key to Britain's security, hosting ⁠the ⁠country's nuclear-armed submarine fleet, as well as its attack submarines.

Police Scotland said the Iranian man, 34, and the Romanian woman, 31, are due to appear at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on March 23.

World

Report: UK PM Calls Meeting on Iran War’s Cost‑of‑Living Impact

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer waits to welcome the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu to 10 Downing Street during a state visit in London, Britain, 19 March 2026. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer waits to welcome the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu to 10 Downing Street during a state visit in London, Britain, 19 March 2026. (EPA)
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Report: UK PM Calls Meeting on Iran War’s Cost‑of‑Living Impact

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer waits to welcome the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu to 10 Downing Street during a state visit in London, Britain, 19 March 2026. (EPA)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer waits to welcome the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu to 10 Downing Street during a state visit in London, Britain, 19 March 2026. (EPA)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will next week convene an emergency meeting of senior ministers and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey to discuss plans to help households with ‌the soaring ‌cost of living ‌caused by ⁠the war in ⁠Iran, the Times reported on Saturday.

A spokesperson for Starmer's office and one for the Bank of England ⁠declined to comment ‌on ‌the report.

Starmer is under ‌pressure to assist UK ‌consumers after the US-Israeli war on Iran drove up petrol, energy and ‌mortgage costs.

On Monday, he promised to support "working people" ⁠with cost-of-living ⁠pressures worsened by the conflict.

As a start the government said it will provide a 53-million-pound ($70 million) package to help the most vulnerable households cope with the rising cost of heating oil.

World

Russian Strike on Zaporizhzhia Kills 2 as Ukraine Seeks to Move Forward Peace Talks

Ukrainian servicemen hit a Russian drone as police officers work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine March 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Ukrainian servicemen hit a Russian drone as police officers work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine March 21, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Strike on Zaporizhzhia Kills 2 as Ukraine Seeks to Move Forward Peace Talks

Ukrainian servicemen hit a Russian drone as police officers work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine March 21, 2026. (Reuters)
Ukrainian servicemen hit a Russian drone as police officers work at the site of a building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine March 21, 2026. (Reuters)

A Russian drone attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least two people, a Ukrainian official said, ahead of expected US-Ukraine talks.

Zaporizhzhia regional head Ivan Fedorov said a man and a woman were killed and two children wounded when a Russian drone hit a private house on Saturday morning.

The attack came ahead of expected US-Ukraine talks, which Ukrainian state media reported would take place later in the day in Miami.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Thursday he had sent an official delegation to the United States in a bid to move forward suspended US-brokered talks on ending Russia’s invasion.

Trilateral talks involving Russia, which have yet to produce any breakthrough on key issues, have been on ice while the Iran war has dominated international attention.

The White House did not confirm any meeting with the Ukrainian delegation.

Zelenskyy said the main tasks in the US will be to ensure that the trilateral talks resume and that Washington continues to allow other NATO countries to purchase American weapons to send to Ukraine.

A senior Kremlin official indicated Friday that a new round of US-mediated negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv will likely take place soon.

“The pause is temporary, we hope it’s temporary regarding the continuation of the trilateral format,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Western European officials have over the past year repeatedly accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in negotiations while he tries to press his bigger army’s battlefield initiative and capture more Ukrainian land. Russian forces hold nearly 20% of Ukraine.

The latest conflict in the Middle East that began Feb. 28 with Israeli and US strikes on Iran has diverted international attention from Ukraine’s plight.

At the same time, Russia is getting a financial windfall from a temporary US waiver on oil sanctions, while Ukraine is desperately short of cash and still waiting for a 90-billion-euro ($103 billion) loan promised by the European Union.