Police Detention for Some Voters

Rights activist Leman Yurtsever, who had gone to vote in Karaköy, Istanbul, was taken into custody and kept at the police station for two hours. She was later told that the police had believed that there was a search warrant out for her, but that there had been a mistake. She will file a complaint against the police.

In Izmir, western Turkey, the police had prepared a list of addresses of the people they were looking for. 228 people were then taken into custody when they came to vote.

In Kahramanmaraş, southeastern Turkey, the police adopted a similar strategy, giving poll officers a list of people they were searching for, mostly for financial misdemeanours or for causing bodily harm to others. 183 people were taken into custody.

Of 70 people taken into custody in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, 30 have been arrested. In Manisa, western Turkey, 100 people were taken into custody for various violations of the law,  and in Adıyaman, in the southeast,  9. (BÇ/TK/AG)