New wave of arrests in 4 cities ahead of 15 February

On the 23rd anniversary of the capture of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan as a result of an international conspiracy on 15 February 1999, a wave of arrests was carried out in many cities.

Many people were detained in raids carried out by Turkish state forces in many cities in North Kurdistan and Turkey. The raids took place in Adana, Mersin, Siirt and Şırnak.

Siirt.

Materials belonging to the association of prisoners’ families, TUAY-DER, were seized during the search carried out in its offices in Siirt in the morning. Simultaneous raids were carried out on the houses of association executives and Kurdish politicians in the city.

Siirt TUAY-DER co-chair Muhsine Özhan, association executive Necmeddin Yur, former director of the association Resul Arslan, as well as Maşallah Arslan, Taybet Tekin, Hediye Suçin, Vetha Kaçar from the Peace Mothers Council, HDP former Central District co-chair Emine Aşkara were detained.

Kanite Dayanan, who suffers from heart and kidney problems, was detained in the Eruh district of Siirt, and the children at home were also threatened by the police. The reason for the detention was not disclosed.

SIRNAK

House raids were carried out in the center and province of Şırnak. While many people, including journalist Zeynep Durgut, were detained in Cizre, special operations police detained Rıdvan Özmen, Doğan Şavluk, Nesim Sayın, Selahattin Ormanlı and Ziya Durmuş in Silopi. The reason for the detention was not disclosed.

ADANA

Many people were detained in simultaneous house raids in Adana. The number of detentions could not be learned. Houses were looted during the raid.

MERSIN

In Mersin, detention warrants were issued for 52 people on the allegation of "preparation for action". At least 43 people have been detained in house raids in the city since 12 February. Serkan Şahin, one of the detainees, went on hunger strike on 12 February due to arbitrary and unlawful detention, psychological pressure and threats. It has been learned that Ramazan Yıldırım and a group of young people will go on hunger strike today.