The detention wave in the Kurdish cities or in settlements where mostly Kurdish people live continues increasingly in the last days.

Police forces accompanied by special operation units carried out house raids early this morning in Adana, Antep and Şırnak provinces, detaining dozens of people.

In Şahinbey district of Antep police said “Because you are Kurds” to the citizens who asked why they were being detained.

ADANA

Police forces carried out simultaneous house raids early this morning in Adana, detaining 10 members of the HDP on grounds of “being a member of an organisation, carrying out recruiting facilities for the organisation and spreading organisational propaganda”. It has been reported that the detainees had been kept under surveillance for some time and they have been told that their posts on Facebook were taken as evidences of the above mentioned allegations.

The detainees Mustafa Azboy, Cemil Demir, Zeydin Argın, Aslan Turan, Velat Sansarkaya, Veysi Tan, Muhittin Şengil, Ömer Taşkın, Şengül Erdoğan and Mehmet Reşit Toyğun are currently held in Anti-Terror Unit in the Adana Police HQ, and they will be referred to the prosecutor’s office tomorrow.

ANTEP

Early this morning, police forces and special operation units raided many houses in Beydilli neighbourhood of Şahinbey district of Antep. The raids were carried out with armoured vehicles while the police broke down the door of the houses to enter in. At least 5 persons, including children, were detained after they were beaten by the police.

While the exact number of the detainees have not been verified, police said “because you are Kurds” to the people asking why they were detained. The reason of the detentions has also not been verified as there is allegedly secrecy rule on the file. The operation is reportedly continuing while the detainees were taken to the police headquarters in the district.

ŞIRNAK

In the meantime, 12 houses were raided in Turgut Özal and Yeni Mahalle neighbourhoods of İdil (Hezex) district of Şırnak. The doors and windows of the houses were broken down by the police, while at least 5 persons were detained. The detainees were reportedly taken to the police department in the district following a health check in the public hospital.