450 Missing, 169 Detained in Istanbul

Following police attacks, Istanbul’s crisis desk received 450 missing and detention applications. At the moment, 169 individuals are still waiting in Istanbul’s Police Headquarters. The detention tolls are 116 in Ankara and approximately 30 in Eskişehir.

Ayça Söylemez

A hotline operated by Istanbul Bar Association and Istanbul Branch of Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) received 450 missing and detention applications.

“169 people are currently held in Istanbul Police Headquarters in Vatan Avenue and they will start their testimonies by 2 pm today,” İlknur Alcan from ÇHD told bianet.

“Other detainees are being kept at local police headquarters throughout the city. At the moment, we can’t really detect the exact number of detainees.”

“We received allegations that some people were abducted by police without any legal proceedings and were subjected to ill-treatment and assault.

Among those who were detained and held in Istanbul, there are also two journalists. IMC TV Editor Gökhan Biçici has been assaulted and detained by police yesterday as he was covering the protests in Gazi neighborhood. Emre Fidan, a cameraman from Ulusal Kanal, is also under police detention.

ÇHD Ankara Branch announced that they could detect the current detention toll in Ankara to be as far as 116.

After a police raid in the central province of Eskişehir this morning, approximately 30 people were detained. (AS/BM)

* Photo credit: Berk Özkan / AA

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Ayça Söylemez

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Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü mezunu. Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Sosyoloji bölümünde yüksek lisans yaptı. Marmara Üniversitesi İletişim Bilimleri’nde doktora yapıyor. Vatan, Akşam, HaberTürk ve Hürriyet gazetelerinin yazıişleri ve dış haberler bölümünde çalıştı. Güncel Hukuk dergisinde yazıları yayınlandı. BirGün’de Anonim adlı köşeyi yazıyor. 2011’den bu yana bianet’te İnsan Hakları Editörü.