More arrests follow in wake of KCK raids
ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency
Several women syndicate workers were detained during the operations. AA photo
Authorities have arrested scores of suspects who were taken into custody during last week’s sweeping raids against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK).Five suspects were arrested in Istanbul, while another nine were released on the night of Feb. 16 after their transfer to court. Of the 49 people detained in Istanbul, 35 of them had already been released after they were questioned, including photo-artist Mehmet Özer and director Mizgin Müjde Arslan.
A criminal court in Ankara also ordered the arrest of nine of the 14 suspects who had been transferred to court on the charge of “being a member of a terrorist organization;” it released the other five suspects Feb. 16 on the condition that they remain under judicial control.
Another 33 were released in Diyarbakır out of the 36 suspects who had been taken into custody in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak and Batman during last week’s raids. Two people were also arrested in the eastern province of Van although another four were released on Feb. 16. The suspects were initially subjected to a medical examination after which time they testified to a specially authorized chief prosecutor following their transfer to court.
Law enforcement officials had rounded up over 100 people last week in raids conducted across Turkey, including the headquarters of several labor unions in Ankara, as part of the KCK, the alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is recognized as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.
