A group of 15 young leftists protested against the arrest of 3 friends in the city centre of Edirne in the north- western region of Thrace. The 3 friends have been taken into custody for alleged membership of an illegal organization. A crowd of about 750 people physically attacked the young protesters and shouted slogans like "This is Edirne, there is no traitor here" and "Down with the PKK".
The police were not able to take the situation under control. When they tried to remove the 15 students from the scene in vehicles, the crowd threw plastic bottles at them.
6 people were injured in the course of the incident.
Support for detained friends resulted in lynch attempt
The police took19-year-old Harika Kızılkaya and 28-year-old Cevahir Erdem into custody on 16 December and accused both of them of spreading information about the Party and Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the Turkish People (DHKP-C).
The 2 young men were brought to the Anti-Terror Branch Directorate as part of the Edirne Police Directorate. Gürbüz Sönmez was arrested when a group of people gathered in front of the directorate's building to support Kızılkaya and Erdem in custody.
After having taken the statements of the 3 young males, they were put in detention. Kızılkaya and Erdem stand accused for "spreading propaganda for the terrorist organization DHKP-C, Sönmez is detained for "preparing organizational documents". They were brought to the Edirne Closed Prison.
15 members of the Edirne Youth Association and the mother of Erdem Fatma Satıç made a press release on 27 December in one of the busiest streets of Edirne. They demanded the USA to withdraw from the İncirlik base in Adana and the release of the 3 detainees. They also initiated a signature campaign in the same context.
Attackers dismissed upon "request" of Chief of Police
As reported by Radikal newspaper, Erdem's mother Satıç said in the press release, "I take the flag from where my son has left it and I continue the struggle".
Following the press release, the group set up a table in the street and started a signature campaign. Some people started to show negative reactions when they were asked for their signatures. They shouted slogans such as "This is Edirne, there is no traitor here", "Down with PKK" and "Get out of here", whereupon the protestors answered with slogans on their part.
The crowd of people opposing the protest rose to a total of 750. They caused an uproar by attacking the 15 people of the protest action, trying to lynch them.
Most of the harassed young people fled into nearby stores to escape the assault. However, the attackers ran after them.
When the police came, they were not able to curb the crowd and called for a reinforcement team. Upon the arrival of the additional police, the members of the Youth Association were brought to the police station.
The crowd continued shouting slogans even after the young people had been removed from the scene.
The agitated crowd only retreated after Anti-Terror Branch Manager Hakan Öndoğan from the Edirne Police Directorate told them, "It is over. Dismiss, please." (BÇ/VK)
