Dozens of Kurdish politicians detained in Van – UPDATE

As many as 49 Kurdish politicians have been arrested in Van province today and police has a list of 70 people sought within the scope of the operation.

AKP government has accelerated the political genocide operations against Kurdish politicians across North Kurdistan.

As many as 49 people who include the co-chairs of Democratic Regions' Party (DBP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) branches in all the districts of Van province have been taken into custody during an extensive detention operation as part of which numerous houses and DBP/HDP offices have been raided and searched in detail.

The detained Kurdish politicians have been taken to police directorates as the search in the offices of both parties continue. 70 people are reportedly sought to be detained within the scope of today's operation.

ÇALDIRAN

Special operations teams conducted simultaneous house raids in Çaldıran district, as a result of which DBP district co-chairs Şirvan Şahin and Mehmet Nasır Ürgen and DBP administrators Mustafa Kaya and Mahmut Salazer were taken into custody.

ÇATAK

During the house raids in Çatak district, HDP district co-chairs Şükrü Yavuz and Sevgi Eraslan and DBP district co-chair Medeni Özer were detained.

ÖZALP

In Özalp district, HDP district co-chairs Recep Ceylancı and Sema Çaygeç and DBP district co-chair Aslı Kaymaz were taken into custody.

GÜRPINAR

As part of the detention operation which was also conducted in Gürpınar district, HDP district co-chair Necat Tanış and DBP district co-chair Seyoş Alas were taken into custody after a raid on their houses. Police forces have also raided the DBP office and conducted a detailed search.

SARAY

In Saray district, HDP district co-chairs Mürşide Sevmiş and Şabettin Bilmez as well as DBP district co-chair Kader Çeri were taken into custody. As the search in HDP and DBP offices continues, the detainees have been taken to district police headquarters.

MURADİYE

In the district of Muradiye, HDP district co-chairs Kutbettin Değer and Anergül Albak, and DBP district co-chairs Mehmet Kaplan and Ayşe Değer were taken into custody. Police forces continue the search in the offices of both parties.

BAHÇESARAY

DBP district co-chair Halil Bogra was also detained as part of the same operation in Bahçesaray district. The search in the party office continues.

CENTRAL DISTRICTS

Police forces also raided the offices of DBP and HDP in the central districts of Edremit, İpekyolu and Tuşba

As a detailed search continues in the party offices continues, HDP Edremit district co-chair Berna Karataş and DBP district co-chairs Medeni Özer and Atiye Şen have been taken into custody.