Kurds march against Turkey's Erdogan in Germany, support jailed politicians

Several thousand Kurds marched in the western Germany city of Cologne on Saturday in support of pro-Kurdish politicians jailed in Turkey the previous day.

The demonstrators, numbering 6,500 according to Cologne police and up to 15,000 according to the protest's organisers, carried flags and banners promoting Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

A spokesperson for the demonstrators said the rally displayed Kurdish resistance to Erdogan, Deutsche Welle reported. The recent wave of political arrests signalled "the end of Turkish democracy," the spokesperson said, adding that the Turkish government is trying to "muzzle" the party. 

On Friday, the HDP's two leaders, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, and several of the party's legislators were remanded in custody by a court in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir.

The US and EU have raised alarm over the arrests, part of a crackdown since a 15 July coup attempt in Turkey. 

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized Turkey's arrest of the Kurdish opposition leaders, saying Ankara had a right to fight terrorism but could not use it to justify gagging opponents.

Steinmeier summoned Ufuk Gezer, the Turkish charge d'affaires, to discuss the arrests of lawmakers from the HDP, the second-biggest opposition group in the Turkish parliament.

Austria's foreign ministry also summoned Turkey's top diplomat in Vienna to express dismay about the arrests.

Police in Cologne said Saturday's march took place without incident.

The Kurdish community in Germany is the largest in Europe, numbering about a million.

The country is also home to the world's largest community of people of Turkish origin outside their native country.

In late July after the attempted coup, 40,000 people marched in Cologne in support of Erdogan.

Meanwhile in Paris, more than 2,000 Kurds staged a demonstration carrying placards with slogans such as "Turkey bombs, Europe stays silent".