With just weeks to go before May's elections, police raid homes and offices in 21 cities, detaining journalists, lawyers, politicians, activists and artists.
This statement was originally published on bianet.org on 25 April 2023.
Police have detained dozens of people, including journalists, politicians, lawyers, artists, and activists in early morning raids across 21 cities.
The raids carried out as part of a Diyarbakır based investigation mostly targeted pro-Kurdish organizations, including the Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the Yeni Yaşam newspaper, the Lawyers for Freedom Association (ÖHD) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The charges are still unclear because of the confidentiality order on the investigation, the Diyarbakır Bar Association said. However, the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) reported, citing legal sources, that the investigation was terrorism-related.
Mehdi Özdemir, deputy head of the bar, noted that the operation was still ongoing, and there were no reasons presented for the detentions so far. The operation targeted various occupational groups, including artists, politicians, NGO representatives, and lawyers.
Later, AA reported that 126 people were in custody.
HDP executives among the detained
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) executives were also among the detained, according to Tayip Temel, an MP for the party, said on Twitter.
“As we approach the election, the government once again turned to detention operations out of fear of losing power,” he wrote. “This morning, dozens of our friends, including HDP Central Executive Committee members, co-chairs, journalists, artists, and lawyers, were detained in Amed [Diyarbakır].”
Among those taken into custody are Ferhat Çelik, owner of the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), Abdurrahman Gök, an editor at the agency, Osman Akın, managing editor of the daily Yeni Yaşam newspaper, and Kadri Esen, the publisher of Xwebûn newspaper, the only Kurdish-langage print newspaper in Turkey. Police officers seized books and computers belonging to the journalists during the searches of their homes.
The ÖHD said on Twitter that searches had also been carried out at its offices. “We will not remain silent against the political operation carried out against our association and members during the election process! We have learned that journalists, artists, politicians, and citizens from Diyarbakır, Batman, and Urfa provinces have also been detained as part of the same investigation. We will not be silenced against the political operations carried out against our association and other democratic institutions. The defense will not be silenced!”
Several stage actors from four separate theater groups were also detained.
