Accoring to bianet.org The office of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Employees
(KESK) union employee
İsmet Aslan was searched in the scope of a
KCK operation (Union of Kurdistan Communities) on Friday (13 January). Aslan was taken into police custody. Provincial and district offices of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party
(BDP) were raided in several provinces.
Among the people taken into custody were BDP Central Steering Board
(MYK) member
Tuncer Bakırhan, former MP and BDP Deputy Co-Chair
Fatma Kurtulan, Dicle News Agency
(DİHA) Ankara reporter
Murat Çiftçi and the district heads of the BDP in Esenyurt, Zeytinburnu and Bağcılar (Istanbul districts).
İrfan Uçar, press advisor of BDP Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir, told
bianet that the BDP local government office was raided. Other crackdowns were carried out in several places in the cities of Ağrı, Mersin, Adana, Ankara, Mersin, Batman, Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır,Van and Siirt. In Istanbul, the BDP Provincial Office was searched.
Police raids were made on the BDP Diyarbakır Provincial Office, the Headquarters of the Kurdish Language Research and Development Association
(KURDİ-DER), the BDP Ecology and the Local Government Office, the Kayapınar Cegerxwin Culture Youth Centre, buildings of the Dicle Fırat Culture Association, the Education and Science Workers' Union
(Eğitim-Sen) and the Diyarbakır Branch of the Human Rights Foundation
(İHD).
KESK President
Lami Özgen said that they did not accept the planned search on the headquarters due to the lack of a search order. Urfa Eğitim-Sen Branch Manager
Murat Oruç and
Gülsüm Çelik for the Diyarbakır Branch were taken into police custody.
Diyarbkır Mayor Baydemir wrote on twitter, "The Aram Tigram Conservatory as part of our municipality was raided. Our headquarters with stringed musical instruments and other criminal instruments like drums, violins or pianos is being searched".
About 123 addresses were searched. At least 32 people were taken into police custody. It was reported that decisions for police custody were released about 45 people. BDP Party Assembly member
Emrullah Bingöl was also taken into custody.
The home of
Damla Çimen, Deputy Chair of the Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party
(DSİP), was raided by the police at 5.00 am on Friday morning. Her computer was confiscated.
The members of the BDP Istanbul Provincial Faction taken into custody within the operation were reported as follows:
Neslihan Güner, member
of the BDP Istanbul Women Assembly; Istanbul Provincial Executives
Nazire Güreş and
Doğan Çiftci; Zeytinburnu District Chair
Nezir Erdemci; Esenyurt District Co-Chairs
İlyas Demir and
Şafak Özanlı; Pendik District Deputy Chair
Celal Gürger; Bağcılar District Chair
Zekiye İlbasan, former BDP provincial executive
Celal Alpan and party employee
Ramazan Yıldız.
During the crackdown on the İHD Diyarbakır Branch hard discs and files containing archives and applications of families were seized.
The Association of Solidarity with Families of Detainees and Convicts
(TUHAD-DER) was searched as well. Lists with political detainees and convicts and hard discs were confiscated.
During the raid on the Eğitim-Sen Diyarbakır Branch documents and hard discs were seized as well as laptops, archives and books published by the organization. Moreover, the Municipal and Local Authority Trade Union
(Tüm Bel-Sen) Diyarbakır Branch was searched and certain documents were seized.
The home of BDP Diyarbakır MP
Leyla Zana in Ankara was searched. bianet talked to BDP Faction Chair
Pervin Buldan who was at Zana's apartment.
Buldan reported that Zana was not at home and the police went in with the help of a locksmith. Apparently ten police officers searched the home. The police took a record and some documents were confiscated.
Buldan explained that Zana was in Diyarbakır and that the search was carried out in detail.
The police announced that there was no search warrant about Zana but since this address was not her registered place of residence the search was continued.
It was declared that the house was the official residence of
Cahit Yoldaş, the uncle of Leyla Zana. However, the police confiscated Zana's personal documents and the iPad given to her in parliament.
Buldan called Assembly President
Cemil Çiçek. Çiçek called her back later on and said that the search was justified because Zana was not registered at the address of the raided house.
source: http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/135456-crackdowns-on-kesk-and-bdp
