At least 128 people, including journalists, artists, politicians and lawyers have been detained in the operation held with 19 days to go until the elections

ÖZKAN KÜÇÜK - DİYARBAKIR

More than 100 journalists, artists, lawyers, rights defenders, civil society representatives and politicians were arrested on 25 April 2023 in raids on residences and businesses in 21 provinces as part of an investigation being run by the Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor’s Office. With no official statement concerning the operation as of the evening of 25 April, it is reported that arrest orders have been issued for a total of 216 people and that 10 journalists are among those detained.

Anadolu Agency, which stated that the operation was against “the terrorist organisation PKK/KCK” reported that 110 people were arrested during morning hours and that the total number of arrests reached 126 with 16 more people being arrested during the day. Minister of the Interior Süleyman Soylu posted an update on the number of detainees on social media in the evening, putting the number at 128. Mezopotamya Agency reported that 77 of the 126 detainees were identified and that the detainees were being charged with “membership of a terrorist organisation.” Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), many members of which were detained, put together a list of 89 detainees based on the information they received.

An order of confidentiality was issued concerning the investigation and the detainees were barred from access to lawyers for 24 hours.

Third operation in the past 10 months

The names of journalists detained during the operation are as follows: Mezopotamya Agency editor Abdurrahman Gök, Mezopotamya Agency reporters Ahmet Kanbal and Mehmet Şah Oruç, JinNews reporter Beritan Canözer, Yeni Yaşam newspaper managing editor Osman Akın, Xwebûn newspaper publisher Kadri Esen and journalists and media workers Mehmet Yalçın, Mikail Barut, Salih Keleş and Remzi Akkaya.

An arrest warrant was also reportedly issued against Mezopotamya Agency publisher Ferhat Çelik but he was not arrested as he was not at his address of residence.

In a statement, the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) called the arrests with 19 days to go before the elections on 14 May an “electoral operation.” The DFG statetement also recalled that many journalists have been arrested in operations against the Kurdish press in the past 10 months.

This is the third campaign of mass arrests targeting journalists working for pro-Kurdish media outlets in less than a year. In June 2022, 16 of the 20 journalists arrested in Diyarbakır were put in pre-trial detention. In October 2022, nine of the 11 journalists arrested as part of an Ankara-based operation were imprisoned pending trial.

Lawyers and artists also detained

In addition to Halise Dakalı, Co-Chair of the Diyarbakır Branch of the ÖHD, 25 members of the lawyers’ group registered with various province bar associations were also arrested in house raids. In addition to raids on homes, searches and arrests were also carried out at the headquarters of the association. Among the detained lawyers is Resul Temur, who represents many imprisoned Kurdish journalists.

Artists were also arrested as part of the operation. Actors Yavuz Akkuzu, Özcan Ateş, Elvan Koçer Yıldırım, Şahperi Alphan, Sena Özbey and Sadettin İnal of the Amed City Theatre, which was established by actors that were dismissed following the takeover of many municipalities in the Southeast by government-appointed trustees in 2016; musician Devrim Demir and filmmaker Çınar Koçgiri Doğan are among the artists and performers known to have been detained. It was learned that Doğan was arrested in his hometown of Sivas and was being transferred to Diyarbakır. Among other detained performers and artists are musician Mesut Gever, Kibar Süvari Bozkurt of the Women’s Arts and Literature Association (KASED) and Welat Esin of the Dicle Fırat Cultural Association.

The Amed City Theatre (Şehir Tiyatrosu (Şanoya Bajêr a Amedê) has protested the arrest of its actors with a social media post in Kurdish. The theatre’s post reads: “Our friends were arrested in house raids this morning. Amed Şehir Theatre is our dignity! You cannot silence our art!”

“The aim is to suppress civil society”

In a press statement outside the Diyarbakır Courthouse that was held with the participation of the ÖHD’s Diyarbakır Branch, the Diyarbakır Bar Association and various CSOs, it was underlined that interventions against fundamental rights and freedoms were extremely arbitrary, that the judiciary was being used as a means to target rights defenders, especially lawyers, journalists, artists and artists, who were being subjected to threats of imprisonment. The statement read: “There have been intense and worrying concerns that the elections in Turkey would not be held according to the principle of democratic, fair and free elections. Given the concerns over the security of the elections, we are aware that civil society organizations and rights defenders are being suppressed through the threat of the judiciary.”

The press statement which the Party of Greens and the Left Future (YSP) Diyarbakır office delivered along with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) as well as civil society organizations in Ofis neighbourhood took place under a police blockade. There were reports that a protester as well as HDP Press Consultant Tümen Anlı were detained after the press statement.