Turkish authorities detain 18 tied to HDP, including women's rights group members

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish police detained at least 18 people belonging or tied to the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday as part of an anti-terror operation, according to state media, in the third wave of HDP-related arrests in a week.

The 18 detained in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir include officials from the HDP and other groups affiliated to the party, the state-owned TRT news outlet reported, and police are continuing their search for three other people.

HDP spokesperson Ebru Guney confirmed in a press conference that some current and former HDP officials have been detained, calling for their release.

Though raids on the HDP and affiliated groups are frequent, it is rare that so many women, who worked for two HDP-tied women's rights associations, were among the detained.

Rosa Women’s Association, unofficially linked to the HDP, said that four of its officials and members were detained at 5 am in police raids on their homes in Diyarbakir, including association head Adalet Kaya.

“Search continues at our association’s office,” a tweet from the association read at 10 am on Friday.

“We have worked and fought ceaselessly [for our rights] in an environment where women are subjected to violence since the foundation of our association. We will never accept today’s unlawful act against our association,” the group added, calling for the “immediate” release of the detainees. 

The independent Bianet news outlet reported that two activists from the Free Women’s Movement (TJA), another group with unofficially links with the HDP, were also detained. The remaining officials belonged to the HDP itself and its sister Democratic Regions Party (DBP).

Gunay called for the release of all today’s detainees, especially those from both women associations. 

“Rosa Women’s Association is the only association that fights violence against women in the region but it was raided this morning,” she said, claiming that the government wants to protect perpetrators of gender-based violence by targeting women's groups. 

The HDP is accused by Ankara of being the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - an armed group involved in a decades-long conflict with the Turkish state in pursuit of cultural and political rights for Kurds in the country.

The party has denied organic links to the Kurdish rebels - but unlike the state or other Turkish political parties, it does not view the PKK as a terrorist organization and has expressed its respect for the ideology of jailed party leader Abdullah Ocalan. 

Turkey’s interior ministry removed from office and detained HDP mayors in the municipalities of Igdir, Siirt, Baykan, Kurtalan, and Altinova last Friday for alleged links with the PKK in yet another wave of a government crackdown on party officials.

The HDP said on Wednesday that their Ankara province co-chairs and other party members were blocked from taking to the front of their office to read out a statement responding to Friday’s raids by police, who then detained some of those involved.

The party won 65 of over a thousand municipalities in the March 2019 local elections. Only 14 of the HDP mayors remain in office, according to official party data sent to Rudaw English earlier this month.

Proceedings to strip 19 HDP lawmakers of parliamentary immunity for trial for alleged links to the PKK are underway, pro-HDP news outlet ANF reported on Friday.