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Simultaneous raids were conducted at numerous addresses in the central and Ceyhan districts of Adana in the early hours today (August 14). Police detained a significant number of citizens during the home raids, conducting thorough searches of their premises.
According to a report from the Mezopotamya Agency, while no information was provided regarding the grounds for these detentions, it was noted that those detained have been taken to the Adana Provincial Police Department.
39 taken into custody in Adana on Saturday
Furthermore, on August 12 this Saturday, the attempt by the Adana branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD) to hold a demonstration with the slogan "Galatasaray is Ours" at İnönü Park was thwarted by the authorities, citing disruption of public order, leading to the detention of 39 human rights advocates.
The Saturday Mothers/People is a gathering that started to be held in 1995 in the Galatasaray square every Saturday for half an hour at noon, to ask for clarification about their missing relatives, victims of forced disappearances, or political murders.
In the last years, Saturday Mothers/People have been prevented from gathering at Galatasaray Square in Taksim, İstanbul.
İstanbul Beyoğlu Strict Governorship banned the 700th meeting of the Saturday Mothers/People on August 25, 2018, on the grounds that "no notification had been made" for the meeting.
Those trying to meet at Galatasaray Square are being made subjected to police violence ever since.
"Galatasaray is ours" actions in many cities on Saturday
This Saturday (August 12) the Human Rights Association (İHD) protested against the prevention of the Saturday Mothers/People gathering at Galatasaray Square and arrests across several cities.
Speaking during a statement in front of the Berfo Ana Statue in Ankara, Aslı Saraç, Co-Chair of the İHD Ankara Branch, reminded that a struggle spanning 28 years has been ongoing to uncover the fate of those who have disappeared while in custody.
Ankara
The press statement planned by the İHD Adana Branch at İnönü Park was thwarted by the authorities, who claimed it would disrupt public order. İHD members gathered at İnönü Park were encircled by the police and 39 people were taken into custody.
Adana
In Diyarbakır, the İHD Branch and families of the disappeared came together for the 757th week of the "Let the Disappeared Be Found, Let the Perpetrators Be Tried" campaign. The gathering took place at Koşuyolu Park in the Bağlar district, in front of the Monument for the Right to Life.
During this week's event, families of the disappeared shared the story of İbrahim Kartay, who has been missing for 29 years, and sought answers regarding his fate.
Diyarbakır
The ban was protested in Van as well.
Citing the two-day press statement ban imposed by the Van Governorate, the police prevented the intended announcement from taking place. Human rights advocates, whom the police did not allow to leave the İHD building, staged a one-minute sit-in at the entrance of the building to protest the ban.
Van
The İHD Izmir Branch protested the ban of the Saturday mothers/people gathering and the detentions in the Galatasaray square every week in Konak, İzmir, while the Mersin branches of ÖHD (Lawyers for Freedom), ÇHD (Progressive Lawyers' Association), gathered in at Özgür Çocuk Park, and the İHD Şanlıurfa Branch held a protest at their association's premises, expressing their discontent against police obstructions and detentions.
About Saturday Mothers/PeopleOn May 27, 1995, Saturday Mothers/People gathered for the first time at Galatasaray Square for the ones who disappeared in custody. The first sit-in protests started after the deceased body of Hasan Ocak, who was taken into custody on March 21, 1995, was found in the Cemetery of the Nameless after being tortured. The Saturday protests at Galatasaray Square were interrupted for an indefinite period of time on March 13, 1999, due to heavy police intervention for the last three years. The interruption continued for the next 10 years. The silent sit-in protests of Saturday Mothers/People, which they started again at Galatasaray Square in 2009, continued until the police intervention in August 2018. In the 700th sit-in on August 25, 2018, the police attacked the crowd with rubber bullets, detaining several relatives of the disappeared. The detained were released after giving their statements on the same day. Since then, Saturday Mothers/People have not been allowed to gather at Galatasaray Square. |
(NT/TY/PE)
