At least nine people from the Kurdish democratic opposition have been detained in Istanbul and Mardin on Friday.

Those detained during raids in Istanbul and taken to the Turkish police's counter-terrorism (TEM) department early in the morning include the co-chairs of the DEM Party Esenyurt district organisation, Rojda Yılmaz and Abdullah Arına.

In Mardin, at least 7 people were detained in the raids conducted by gendarmerie and police in the Mazıdağı district in the morning. Detained people were taken to Mardin Provincial Security Directorate TEM branch, accused of ‘making propaganda for an illegal organisation’.

Political operations against the Kurdish democratic opposition take place almost daily in Turkey. Anyone who is politically, socially or civically active never knows when they go to sleep whether their front door will be smashed down by the police in the morning. The main target of the operations is activists and those involved in the HDP's successor, DEM Party. The third largest party in the Turkish parliament is accused of having links with the PKK. The party rejects the accusations and criticises the action taken against its members and supporters as politically motivated.