Ten elected mayors, eight mayor assistants, two deputy mayors, two former mayors, two provincial general assembly presidents, four provincial general assembly vice presidents and 29 municipality council members are currently in prison in Turkey.

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) announced the number of people taken into custody and being arrested in the course of the so-called KCK operations since April 2009.

The Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) intends to organize the Kurdish people and also includes the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

According to the announcement of the BDP, 7748 party executives and employees were taken into custody and 3895 were arrested between 14 April 2009 and 6 October 2011.

1548 people in custody throughout the past six months

Based on the figures published by the BDP, only within the past six months, 4148 persons were taken into police custody and 1548 people were arrested:

* 2 provincial general assembly presidents and 4 provincial general assembly vice presidents are detained.

* 29 members of municipality councils are detained.

* 10 mayors are detained, 1 mayor is in police custody.

* 8 mayor assistants, 2 deputy mayors and 2 former mayors are detained.

* 30 people were arrested, among them 1 party assembly member and 1 member of the central steering board (MYK), in the scope of raids in Izmir on 23 September 2011.

Detentions and arrests during the past month

* 47 persons, 3 of whom were mayors, were arrested during searches in Şırnak on 22 September.

* 31 people were taken into custody in the course of raids in Diyarbakır on 2/3 October including two MYK members, one of them a general accountant, 1 co-chair deputy, 5 provincial steering board members, 1 provincial chair assistant, 1 mayor assistant, 1 municipality council member and 1 provincial general assembly member. The whole group is still in custody.

* The Mayor of Derik is still in police custody.

* During operations started in Istanbul on 3 October, a total of 115 people were taken into custody, among them 7 party assembly members, 14 district mayors, 13 provincial executives and 9 former provincial executives.

* 120 people were taken into custody in the course of an intervention at a funeral in Mersin on 4 October. 54 of them are still in custody.

* 20 people who were taken into police custody on 1 October in Gaziantep were arrested on 4 October. This group includes provincial co-chairs, 4 provincial executives, 1 party assembly member and 2 district mayors.

* A total of 11 people, among them mayor assistants and district co-chairs, were arrested in Tatvan. (ÇT/HK)