At least 284 people have been detained over the past two days in police raids targeting pro-Kurdish groups across Turkey.
The raids come after an attempted rally in the Kurdish-populated city of Diyarbakır on Oct 13 demanding freedom for imprisoned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan. The rally, organized by the Democratic Institutions Platform, a coalition of pro-Kurdish groups, was banned by authorities.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 269 people were detained during house raids in 36 provinces on Oct 15. The raids continued into the following day, with an additional 15 people taken into custody in Diyarbakır.
“We will absolutely not tolerate the provocative scenes in Diyarbakır, where terrorist propaganda was attempted and violence was praised,” Yerlikaya said about the attempted rally in Diyarbakır.
Most of the detentions were based on social media posts related to the events, with users accused of "spreading terrorist propaganda." Others were detained for their direct involvement in the events.
Among those who shared images of Öcalan were seven MPs from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, Yerlikaya noted.
Pro-Kurdish groups have long been calling for the lifting of the confinement of the PKK leader. Öcalan, who has been held in the İmralı island prison in the Sea of Marmara since his capture in 1999, has not been allowed to meet with his lawyers and family members for years. His last contact with the outside world was a disrupted phone call with his brother in March 2021. (VK)