In Turkey, arrest warrant has been issued for 82 people in 7 cities in connection with the Kobanê protests in October 2014. The mayor of Kars, Ayhan Bilgen and former MP Sirri Süreyya Önder have also been detained.
Within the framework of an investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, arrest warrants have been issued against 82 people in Turkey. The list includes numerous former members of parliament and mayors of the HDP, including the co-mayor of Kars, Ayhan Bilgen whose apartment has been searched since last night. According to reports, a four-day detention period has been ordered for him.
Those arrested in the operation so far also include Ali Ürküt, HDP member of RTÜK (Radio and Television Supreme Council), HDP Foreign Relations Commission member Nazmi Gür, former member of HDP Central Executive Board Can Memiş, HDP eski MYK Üyesi Can Memiş, former HDP MP and Imralı Delegation member Sırrı Süreyya Önder and other persons whose names are still unclear.
It is said that those affected are accused of “incitement to violence” in connection with the Kobanê protests in October 2014. The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting the investigation, which was initiated almost a year ago, under the label “PKK/KCK Operation”. The arrest of former HDP co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş in September 2019 was also based on this investigation.
Kobanê protests
On the evening of October 6, 2014, after 21 days of resistance by the YPG/YPJ and the people, the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS) succeeded in penetrating the center of the northern Syrian city of Kobanê. In view of the critical situation, the HDP called on the people of Northern Kurdistan and Turkey to protest indefinitely against the AKP government, as it did not end its support for the IS. In the course of this, there were downright street battles between Turkish security forces and the protesters in many cities: Soldiers, policemen, village guards as well as members and supporters of the radical Islamist Turkish Hezbollah led a joint fight against Kurds who participated in the protests. The number of people killed, most of whom were participants in the uprising, fluctuated between 46 and 53.
