12 People Arrested in Diyarbakır

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - Archive

Click to read the article in Turkish

Detained in house raids in Turkey's Kurdish-majority Diyarbakır province on May 22, 12 people, including former Co-Chairs of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Mehmet Arslan and Gülcihan Şimşek, have been arrested while the remaining six people have been released on probation.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), referred to the Penal Judgeship of Peace on Duty to be arrested following their interrogation at the prosecutor's office, 12 people have been arrested for "membership of a terrorist organization" while six people, including former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Ayla Akat Ata, have been released on probation.

What happened?

As part of an investigation conducted by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) politicians as well as Rosa Women's Association members and Free Women Movement (TJA) activists were taken into custody in house raids in early morning hours on May 22, 2020.

While the trustee protests, statements, death fasts and protests against the isolation of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan were cited as the reason for the detention of 18 people, the mobile phones, books, CDs and laptops were depicted as criminal evidence.

CLICK - Operation Against HDP, DBP Politicians, Women's Associations in Diyarbakır

The following people were detained as part of the operation: Rosa Women's Association founding member Narin Gezgör; Rosa Women's Association founding member and former HDP MP Ayla Akat Ata, Rosa Women's Association Chair Adalet Kaya, TJA activist Zelal Bilgin, DBP former Co-Chairs Mehmet Arslan and Gülcihan Şimşek, HDP Central Executive Committee member Özlem Gündüz, HDP Yenişehir District Co-Chairs Remziye Sızıcı and Kasım Kaya, HDP member Mehmet Ali Altınkaynak, DBP Party Assembly member Celal Yoldaş, Bağlar Municipal Council members Hüseyin Harman, Veysi Kuzu and Gönül Aslan, Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipal Council member Sevim Coşkun, Diyarbakır Peace Mothers Assembly member Havva Kıran, Yenişehir Municipal Council member Nevriye Çır and and Nazile Tursun. (TP/SD)