Dozens of protesters, three media workers detained in 'earthquake' protest in İstanbul

Photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

The police yesterday (March 1) detained nearly 100 members of the Left (SOL) Party, as well as three media workers, during a protest against the government over last month's earthquakes in Kadıköy, İstanbul.

Ahead of the demonstration, the riot police were deployed to Bahariye Street, a busy pedestrian street where the party's provincial office is located.

When the party members began chanting slogans outside of the office, chanting slogans calling on the government to resign, the police surrounded them. The police then moved to disperse the crowd, detaining nearly 100 people, according to the SOL Party.

The detainees include Alper Taş, a prominent left-wing politician and a party executive, and Deniz Demirdöğen, the party's provincial head in İstanbul.

bianet learned that Asena Tunca, a reporter for the daily BirGün, and Ezgican Ceylan and Ahmet Can Sarıkaya, two employees of the newspaper, were also detained.

Another journalist following the demonstration told bianet that the police forced them to turn off their camera and seized their wallet. After they resisted, the officers threatened to detain them, they said.

The government has been widely criticized for its presumed slow and inadequate response following the massive earthquakes.

During the football games over the weekend, fans also protested against the government, chanting "resign" slogans.

The earthquakes

On February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş. The first quake in the Pazarcık district at 4.17 a.m. was followed by the second one in Elbistan about nine hours later.

The quakes affected 11 cities in Türkiye's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts, where over 5,000 people have died.

Türkiye's death toll from the quakes stands at over 45,000 and is expected to increase further, as over 160,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures.

Nearly two million people have been displaced due to the earthquakes.

(AEK/VK)