The police did not give permission to a demonstration in Taksim (Istanbul) organized to mark the day Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), was extradited to Turkey in 1999.
A group of protesters gathered on the centrally located Taksim square at around 2.00 pm on Wednesday (15 February) to walk along Istiklal Avenue. When they encountered a police cordon at the entrance of the street they passed by via side streets.
A melee occurred between the police and the protestors and approximately 23 people were taken into police custody, among them Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Provincial Co-Chairs Ali Rıza Bilici and Asiye Kolçak.
A woman who did not belong to the group of protestors had a quarrel with police officers when she wanted to get past to Takism Square; she was taken into custody as well. Shops in the area closed the shutters during the turmoil.
The protestors demanded the release of their friends. When their demand remained unanswered, the group of about one hundred demonstrators started a one-hour sit-down strike at the corner of a side street of Istiklal Avenue.
BDP Co-Chair Gültan Kışanak, Istanbul deputy Sebahat Tuncel and party assembly member Filiz Koçali talked to police officials for the release of the people in custody but did not achieve any result.
The sit-down strike was ended with a statement made by BDP Co-Chair Kışanak. He announced, "The arrest of Abdullah Öcalan was an international complot to escalate the conflict and deadlock [of the Kurdish question] in Turkey. The Kurdish question will not be resolved as long as Öcalan has not been given an active role in the solution of the Kurdish question".
Taken into Custody during job application
Journalist Banu Yıldız was taken into custody in the scope of the investigation into the Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK) in front of the İhlas News Agency (İHA). Yıldız, who previously worked for the Dicle (DİHA) and Etkin (ETHA) News Agencies, had come to İHA for a job application. She was taken to the Vatan (Istanbul) Police Station.
Again on 15 February, the police in Mersin (eastern Mediterranean) intervened at the funeral ceremony of Murat Şakar. Şakar was a member of the People's Defence Forces (HPG), an armed wing of the PKK, and died in clashes in Batman the previous day. 46 people were taken into custody, including two journalists: DİHA reporters Zeynep Kuriş and Özlem Ağuş.
DİHA Diyarbakır reporter İsmet Mikailoğulları was taken into custody in the course of a nation-wide KCK operation on 13 February. (NV/HK/VK)
