Solidarity with Families Who Lost Relatives in the Cradle of Civilizations and Culture Association (MEBYA-DER) protested the detention of its co-chairs, members and managers in a police raid on the association’s office on February 27. The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakir Provincial Organization administrators also attended the press conference held in the association’s office.

Reading out the statement, Ali Kanik, a member of MEBYA-DER, said that the pressure on the association has no legal basis and demanded that the detainees be released.

'WE REJECT WAR, PROMOTE PEACE AND DEMOCRACY'

Kanik said that the doors of the association's office were broken and co-chairs and their members were detained during the police raid. He noted that the official documents of the association, the petitions of the families and the association's charter were confiscated in the operation. “The foundation purposes of our association are clearly stated in our charter and our association was opened with the permission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the governor's office and the department of associations. Our association is a civil society organization which rejects injustice and war and advocates peace and democracy”, he said.

"ANTI-DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES HAVE BECOME LEGAL"

Stating that there are funerals in all parts of the country due to the armed conflict, Kanik said, “The government criminalizes political parties, NGOs, democratic mass organizations in order to hide internal disturbance and prolong its life. With the latest bag laws, it legalized anti-democratic practices against associations and foundations”.

Calling for the detained co-chairs, members and executives to be released immediately, Kanik added, "We condemn this unlawful detention and the police raid on our association, and we ask the government to abandon arbitrary practices".