Thirty-one detained in house raids over Van election protests

In the early hours of today, the police conducted a series of house raids in İstanbul and İzmir, resulting in the detention of at least 31 individuals. The raids are linked to protests that erupted following the non-issuance of an official mandate to Abdullah Zeydan, the elected co-mayor of Van Metropolitan Municipality.

Zeydan, representing the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, secured victory in the eastern city in the March 31 polls. However, his mandate was initially withheld by the election authority, which cited a prior conviction on "terror-related" charges. DEM appealed the decision, noting that Zeydan had already been cleared by the Supreme Election Council (YSK) to run in the election. After two days of demonstrations across Van and other cities, the mandate was eventually reinstated.

According to reports from Yeni Yaşam newspaper, the İstanbul raids included the detention of at least 15 individuals, among them officials from the DEM Party and the Marmara Association for Families of Prisoners and Convicts (MATUHAYDER). Those detained were taken to the İstanbul Security Directorate in Fatih, where a 24-hour restriction on attorney visits was imposed.

In İzmir, arrest warrants were issued for 19 people on similar grounds. The detainees reportedly include members from various political and social organizations such as the Social Freedom Party (TÖP), the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP), the Socialist Struggle Initiative, the New Democratic Youth, and the Community Centers. (TY/VK)