Night Raid on HDP Provincial, District Buildings

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At 3 a.m. last night, a special forces police raid was carried out on the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul District Organization building in Tarlabaşı, Beyoğlu.

The operation was carried out by teams from the İstanbul Security Directorate’s Anti-Terrorism Office with helicopter support.

Before the raid, the head of the street where the HDP district office is located was closed off by armored vehicles. The search was initiated by breaking the front door of the building with a battering ram. After searching the building until 8 a.m., the police left the building.

They didn’t touch the Encyclopedia of Ottoman History

There was major damage to every floor of the building. According to Dicle News Agency’s report, HDP members who entered the building after the raid were faced with racist slogans on the wall.

In the rooms, all the pictures hanging on the walls and all the books on the bookshelf, except the Encyclopedia of Ottoman History, had been thrown on the floor.

All of the hard disks were taken out of the computers and were seized by the police.

The glasses from the kitchen were broken, and sugar was scattered all around. Materials collected for the purpose of solidarity with Nusaybin were strewn about and the conference room chairs were broken.

Raids also launched on buildings in 10 districts

Dozens of HDP District Organizations were raided in Beyoğlu, Esenyurt, Sultangazi, Bahçelievler, Bağcılar, Avcılar, Arnavutköy, Başakşehir, Esenler ve Gaziosmanpaşa. In these raids at least 15 people were detained it was learned.

Those detained were taken to the İstanbul Security Directorate office on Vatan Street after being inspected at the Haseki Training and Research Hospital.

HDP District Co-Chair: This isn’t a search, it’s a raid

After the police left, HDP İstanbul District Co-Chair Doğan Erbaş gave his reaction to the raid. “This isn’t a search, it’s a raid. Everything has its procedure. There is no procedure left in these things.The goal was to give a threat”.

Reacting to the news from the mainstream media that wrote “Walkie-talkie and Jammer Found,” Erbaş said “This is complete slander. When the raid was being carried out, none of us were there. They searched however they desired all alone in our building. Their aim was to terrorize”. (HK/KT)