Photo: MA
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Several activists and polticians, including People's Democratic Party (HDP) Adana Provincial Co-Chairs Helin Kaya ve Mehmet Karakış, were detained in house raids in Turkey's southern city of Adana on Monday (June 27), as reported by Mesopotamia Agency (MA).
It is reported that people were battered during the raids and a woman was strip searched for resisting.
Adana Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued a detention warrant for 38 people, citing an investigation conducted regarding the Binevş Culture and Art Association.
As part of the investigation, raids were carried out on the Binevş Cultural Center and various addresses in Adana and Diyarbakır.
The police reportedly broke down doors of homes and offices and conducted house searches, scattering everything around and seizing computers, hard disks, books and documents.
HDP Provincial co-chairs detained
35 people, including HDP Adana Provincial Co-Chairs Helin Kaya and Mehmet Karakış, along with Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Çukurova Region Co-Spokespersons Şilan Turğa and Enver Güler, Deputy Mayor of Seyhan Municipality Funda Buyruk and Mehmet Sait Dikmen, Abdurrahman Oral, Hayrettin Öz, Sever Uzun, Mehmet Saruhan and Mahsun Uzun, were detained with torture during the raids.
Raid on Cultural Center and Municipality
Simultaneously with the raids on Binevş Culture and Art Association, Seyhan Municipality Deputy Mayor Funda Buyruk's room in the municipality was also searched by the police.
Some people were injured during the raids. The father of Mehmet Sait Dikmen, who is among the detainees, stated the following:
"We said to the police, 'Hold on, we will open the door'. Police were banging on the door and shouting. Then they broke down our outer door. The glass broke and hit our faces. We were covered in blood. They insulted and battered us. There were children in the house and they were traumatized. They [the police] pointed guns at us."
Strip search
Residents of a house that was raided said that a woman was locked in a room and was subjected to a strip search for raising her voice.
Attack on democracy
HDP Adana Deputy Tülay Hatimoğulları said, "This is an attack on democracy, we cannot accept it"
Hatimoğulları reacted to the raids and detentions in Adana. She noted that the operations were aimed at preventing the HDP congress to be held on July 3:
"We are making great preparations for the July 3 HDP congress. This is an attack on the struggle for democracy. We can never accept this.
"Is the government aiming to carry out an operation on each of our voters one by one?
"Since this government cannot silence millions, it will not be able to silence HDP either. Pressures will not silence us. These detainees must be released immediately."
(AEK/TB/SD)
