Turkish police arrest at least 150 people in large-scale raids

More than 150 people, including human rights defenders, journalists, artists, politicians and lawyers, have been detained in the early morning hours of April 25 after a large-scale operation by Turkish police in 21 cities. Following the house raids in several cities, mainly in Diyarbakir, the Human Rights Association in Diyarbakir (IHD Amed) released a short statement on Twitter: “There is a confidentiality order and a ban on lawyers in the file. We do not accept these unlawful practices targeting defenders of rights. Detention procedures should end immediately, our branch managers and everyone who has been unjustly detained should be released as soon as possible.”
According to the Mezopotamya Agency, several associations and cultural centers were also raided during the police operation. The police detained many artists in raids on the Amed City Theater, Dicle Culture and Art Association and Mesopotamia Culture and Art Association in Diyarbakir. Another institution in Diyarbakir raided by the police was the Diyarbakir office of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD). Various materials and documents were confiscated after police searches. Human right organizations reacted strongly to the wave of raids that took place 19 days before the election.
In an interview with the Mezopotamya agency, Nahit Eren, president of the Amed Bar Association, draws attention to the fact that the operation took place before the elections. “Unfortunately, we were already concerned about such developments during the election process,” Eren said in his statement, adding, “It seems like an act to intimidate HDP voters, Kurdish voters.” The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which considers the operations a political coup, also emphasized that the mass arrests were not accidental and were linked to the elections. The statement released by the party reads as follows: “This operation is a clear intimidation and threat to the society and its political preferences. It is not a coincidence that lawyers who will protect the ballot boxes and fight against illegitimacy, journalists who will inform the public, and politicians who are fighting the AKP on the ground are targeted at the same time.” In the joint press statement of several organizations in Diyarbakir, it was demanded to put an end to the violation of rights and to release the detainees immediately.