In the early hours of Tuesday morning (February 18), a string of arrests in Istanbul targeted journalists, artists, and politicians affiliated with the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), a pro-worker left-wing political union associated with the pro-Kurdish DEM Party. The arrests, ordered by the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor, are reportedly part of a larger investigation related to the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
A total of 52 individuals were taken into custody early Tuesday and brought to the Istanbul Security Directorate.
Members of the Labor Party, Green Left Party, DEM Party, Revolutionary Party, Socialist Party of the Oppressed, and the Socialist Refoundation Party were among the detained.
Labor Party chair Seyit Aslan released a statement Tuesday morning condemning the raids. Labor Party’s previous chair Ercüment Akdeniz was reportedly among the detainees.
The Green Left Party denounced the string of arrests as an ‘attack on civil democracy’.
Similar statements denouncing the raids came from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP)’s Istanbul head Özgür Çelik and DEM spokeswoman Tülay Hatimoğulları.
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| 50 journalists artists politicians detained |
Journalists such as Yıldız Tar and Elif Akgül were also arrested early Tuesday.
Arrests follow weeks, months of increasing pressure on opposition
Recent weeks and months have seen Turkey’s opposition targeted with arrests, investigations, and deposition of elected officials.
The CHP has been under particular pressure, especially Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading opposition figure who is currently the object of numerous investigations.
Politicians from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party have also been repeatedly deposed in recent months and replaced with pro-government appointees, most recently in the southeastern city of Van and several weeks prior in Siirt. These depositions, arrests, and replacements have notably occurred alongside an initiative started by the ruling coalition aimed at solving Turkey’s long-running ‘Kurdish issue.’
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Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
