Arrests in Türkiye: more than 100 people handcuffed on charges of “terrorism”

What the sources of the security services in Turkey say about the arrests that took place in the middle of the pre-election period.

Security sources said that at least 110 people were arrested in Turkey today as part of the “anti-terrorism” operation targeting the PKK, while a deputy from the pro-Kurdish HDP said that politicians, lawyers and journalists were attacked. Among those arrested in raids linked to the May 14 elections in the country.

The operation was carried out in 21 Turkish provinces, including Diyarbakir, located in the southeastern part of the country, where the majority of its population is Kurdish, and targeted many lawyers and journalists, according to the non-governmental organization defending freedoms.

Who was the target of the work?

The operation, which targeted people accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), came less than three weeks before Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections, which represent the biggest electoral challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced since then. He took power in 2002.

A wave of arrests in Türkiye as the elections approach https://t.co/aHUSLwbOK2

– Tevfik Pekcak (Tevfik_Pekcak) April 25, 2023

The opposition comes down with a six-party united front, which has nominated a presidential candidate, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is also backed by the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party.

“On the eve of the elections, in fear of losing power, they again resorted to arrests,” HDP deputy Tayyip Temel noted in a tweet.

He pointed out that dozens of politicians, including high-ranking members of his party, journalists, artists and lawyers, are among those arrested this morning in Diyarbakir.

According to the Diyarbakir Bar Association, which was asked by AFP, “the total number of arrests may reach 150,” while those arrested include no less than “twenty lawyers, five journalists, three theater actors and one politician.”

Also according to the Bar Association, lawyers were prevented from contacting their clients for 24 hours.

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs also noted that “the homes of several people, including journalists, lawyers and heads of NGOs, were searched in the early hours of the morning.”

Source: RES-MPE