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In this file picture, chairman of the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP of Turkey, Selahattin Demirtas speaks as Kurds gather after Friday prayer in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, on March 4, 2016. Image Credit: AFP

Ankara: Turkish police on Monday detained 718 people across 40 cities over alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants it blames for executing 13 Turks in northern Iraq.

The interior ministry did not give details on where the raids took place but said heads of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in cities and districts were among those detained. The HDP is Turkey’s second-largest opposition party.