Summary The country is also home to the world's largest community of people of Turkish origin.
FRANKFURT: (AFP) - 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 the People s Democratic Party (HDP).
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 United States and European Union have both raised alarm over the arrests, in a crackdown since the country s July 15 coup attempt.
Police in Cologne said Saturday s march took place without incident.
Numbering around a million, the Kurdish community in Germany is the largest in Europe.
The country is also home to the world s largest community of people of Turkish origin.
In late July, some 40,000 people marched in Cologne in support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Elsewhere, more than 2,000 Kurds staged a demonstration in Paris carrying placards with slogans such as "Turkey bombs, Europe stays silent".
