Ahead of the May 14 elections, Turkish police stormed countless houses and workplaces in the provinces of Amed, Mardin, Siirt, Bingöl, Van, Şırnak, Batman, Antep, Urfa, Bursa, İstanbul, İzmir, Mersin, Muş, Bitlis, Hakkari, Osmaniye, Sivas, Malatya, Adıyaman and Ankara this morning.

About 150 people from the opposition press and culture, lawyers and politicians have been detained in the operation so far. The detainees include 10 journalists; Mezopotamya Agency (MA) editor Abdurrahman Gök, MA reporters Ahmet Kanbal and Mehmet Şah Oruç, Yeni Yaşam newspaper editor in chief Osman Akın, weekly Kurdish newspaper grant holder Kadri Esen, JINNEWS reporter Beritan Canözer, journalists Mehmet Yalçın, Mıkail Barut, Salih Keleş, Remzi Akkaya.

The journalists are accused of membership in a terrorist organization, meaning the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party). The detained journalists are expected to be taken to Diyarbakır provincial police department.