ISTANBUL, Turkey, — Arturo Salerni a well known Italian lawyer who was part of the defence lawyers of the Kurdish national leader Abdullah Ocalan, was stopped by Turkish police at Ataturk airport.
Salerni had left Rome for Turkey as part of a delegation going to Amed to observe the trial against 151 Kurdish politicians and human rights activists arrested in 2009 in the context of the KCK (Kurdish Communities Confederation) case.
According to member of the delegation, on his arrival to Istanbul, lawyer Salerni was stopped and separated from the rest of the delegation (a total of 37 people) by police. It is understood that the Turkish authorities have said to Salerni that he was going to be sent back to Italy as “persona non grata” in Turkey.