Arrest warrants have been issued in Antep against 60 board members and activists of Kurdish associations that were banned by decree after the 2016 coup attempt. Several people, including politicians and lawyers, are already in custody.
In Antep, arrest warrants have been issued against 60 people on the basis of an investigation launched by the chief public prosecutor’s office. The arrest warrants are directed against board members and activists of various Kurdish associations that were banned by emergency decree in the wake of the coup attempt in 2016; Rojava Solidarity and Aid Association, Libertarian Lawyers' Association (ÖHD), Solidarity Association of the Bereaved of the Disappeared (MEYA-DER), Mesopotamia Cultural Center (NÇM) and Kurdî-Der Language Center.
The background to the investigations is still unclear. Various raids have already taken place, resulting in at least 22 arrests. Among those affected are Ethem Ünal, co-chair of the provincial association of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and lawyers Berivan Özpolat and Alaadin Aslan.
Political repression against the Kurdish opposition in Turkey is regularly intensified in the run-up to the anniversary of Abdullah Öcalan's arrest on 15 February 1999. Within the last two days, at least 143 mostly young people associated with the HDP have been arrested in Istanbul, Adana, Bursa, Kocaeli, Antep and other provinces.
