Turkey's Erdogan: releasing Demirtas from jail out of question

FILE PHOTO: A Pro-Kurdish Green Left Party supporter holds a portrait of former leader of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas, 49, who remains a key political figure despite being in jail since 2016, as they attend a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections, in Diyarbakir, Turkey May 13, 2023. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar/File Photo

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in his victory speech on Sunday that releasing former pro-Kurdish party leader Selahattin Demirtas, who he called a "terrorist," would not be possible under his governance.

Erdogan extended his two decades in power in elections on Sunday, winning a mandate to pursue increasingly authoritarian policies which have polarised Turkey and strengthened its position as a regional military power.