Europe

Kurdish demonstrators rally against Erdogan in Cologne

Associated Press
Published | Updated

A banner shows an Islamic State group militant unmasked as Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reading 'You will be judged' during a protest in Cologne, Germany, against the Turkish president Erdogan and the political repression that followed July's failed military coup, Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) (The Associated Press)

Pro-Kurdish demonstrators protest against Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the political repression that followed July's failed military coup, in Cologne, Germany Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016. People showing flags with detained Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK , leader Abdullah Ocalan. In background the Cologne cathedral. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) (The Associated Press)

Pro-Kurdish demonstrators protest against Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the political repression that followed July's failed military coup, in Cologne, Germany Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) (The Associated Press)

About 6,000 pro-Kurdish demonstrators are holding a rally in the western German city of Cologne in protest against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police said Saturday that the rally in an industrial area along the Rhine River has been peaceful so far.

Erdogan's government recently ordered the arrest of nine lawmakers of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, which it accuses of acting as the political wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK — an allegation the HDP rejects.

The PKK has waged a three-decades-long insurgency against the state, and Erdogan has blamed Europe for supporting and arming the group.