Syria has continued to arrest Kurds in the wake of deadly riots earlier this month, raising the number behind bars to more than 2,000, the head of a banned Kurdish party said Sunday.
The secretary general of the Kurdish Progressive Democratic Party, Abdel Aziz Daud, also said security officials had threatened even harsher measures in a meeting with Kurdish leaders.
"Instead of calming things down and showing themselves to be more flexible, Syrian security officers have threatened to take repressive measures and arrest more people," Daud said in a statement.
The statement followed a meeting between Kurdish leaders and the security services on Saturday in Hassake, more than 500 kilometres (about 310 miles) north of Damascus.
"These security officials issued these threats knowing full well that the number of detained Kurds has passed 2,000," he said.
Authorities informed the Kurds last week of the release of around 600 of their people, but Daud said at the time that another 1,500 were still detained in Hassake and Aleppo provinces where the clashes took place.
Kurdish leaders said 40 people were killed in the six days of clashes which broke out on March 12. An official toll put the number of dead at 25.