Three suspects detained in raids against DHKP-C in Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

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Three suspects have been detained in an operation against a terror organization launched at dawn on Aug. 4 in multiple Istanbul districts. 

Police launched an operation against the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) early Aug. 4, during which they raided 13 addresses in Istanbul’s Sultangazi, Bağcılar and Gaziosmanpaşa districts. 

Three suspects were detained in the operation, which was conducted by the police’s anti-terror branch with the support of helicopters and special operations teams, and two guns and organizational documents were seized. 
The interrogations of the suspects are continuing. 

A group of masked people protested the raids in the Gazi neighborhood by throwing stones at police officers. 

Gazi, an Alevi stronghold, had been the center of clashes for days after Günay Özarslan, a DHKP-C member, was killed during a vast anti-terror operation launched July 24 in Istanbul. 

Police officer Muhammet Fatih Sivri was shot in the chest from inside a building on July 26 while he tried to make an arrest during the clashes, which erupted after protesters refused to hand over Özarslan’s body to the municipal authorities for burial. 

An agreement between the Alevi foundations and the Istanbul governorate was reached afterward, and Özarslan’s body was buried on July 27.