ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish police arrested over 100 pro-Kurdish lawyers, journalists, activists and politicians, including a senior official of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in raids early Tuesday morning, weeks ahead of the parliamentary elections.
The operation took place in the Kurdish city of Diyarbakir (Amed) and 20 other provinces, resulting in the arrest of at least 110 individuals for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), reported Turkish state media Anadolu Agency.
Tayip Temel, a HDP lawmaker in the Turkish parliament was the first to reveal that the arrests had been carried out, claiming it was an attempt by Turkey’s ruling power to hold onto power ahead of the elections in May. He said that journalists, artists, lawyers, and members of the pro-Kurdish party had been detained.
In a statement, the HDP condemned the arrests and labeled the raids as “an operation to steal the ballot box and the will of the people.”
“The AKP-MHP government [Justice and Development Party and Nationalist Movement Party], which is on the brink of the biggest election defeat in its history, continues to attack our party, non-governmental organizations, social dynamics and the opposition with panic and fear,” the statement continued.
The HDP also added that the party’s deputy co-chair, Ozlem Gunduz, and central executive committee member Mahvuz Guleryuz were among the detainees. The party called the operation a “coup attempt” against the elections, calling on people to stand up against it the arrests.
This morning, the regime carried out massive arrests in Amed to impact the election which is just 19 days away.
— HDP Europe (@HDP_Europe) April 25, 2023
-Lawyers who could keep an eye on election security,
-Independent journalists who may report voter fraud,
-Green Left Party’s election campaign managers (YSP),…
The Associate Director of Human Rights Watch in Europe and Central Asia Emma Sinclair-Webb, called the wave of arrests “an abuse of powers and intimidation tactic.”
Big round of arrests of Kurdish journos, lawyers in Diyarbakir, including names known for their reporting or advocacy on human rights. As usual, a restriction of access to investigation file so no details, but clearly an abuse of powers and intimidation tactic before election https://t.co/YtQaMWcXw7
— Emma Sinclair-Webb (@esinclairwebb) April 25, 2023
There has not been any official comment from the ruling parties.
This is not the first time HDP members and sympathizers face such raids. In 2020, Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 82 people, including HDP officials, former parliamentarians, and a mayor, in relation to 2014 protests in Turkey during the Islamic State (ISIS) attacks on the city of in northeast Syria (Rojava).
HDP itself is facing the threat of being closed down as the Turkish prosecutor’s office filed a case against the party at the Turkish constitutional court for its alleged ties to the PKK. HDP refused to have a defense in the hearing of the case on April 11.
The Turkish parliamentary and presidential elections are set to take place on May 14, with the sights set on a possible government change two decades after the ruling AKP came to power.
HDP will contest the elections as the Green Left Party (Yesil Sol), and they are viewed as the decisive factor in the elections. The party also expressed implicit support for the opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu to unseat current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
