Police raid and search has ended in the office of the Etkin News Agency (ETHA) in Istanbul. The operation was reportedly carried out in line with a court decision to seize the Istanbul Sokakta (Istanbul on the Street) Newspaper which is the supplement of weekly socialist newspaper Atılım.

Following the search in the office which lasted three hours, 7 people were taken into custody. The detainees were first taken to hospital for medical check-up and then referred to the anti-terror branch of provincial security directorate.

While the search in the office continued, the website of the newspaper was blocked by the Information Technologies Authority (BTK).

According to initial reports, newspaper editors İsminaz Temel, Deniz Bakır and Serdal Işık and employee Mehmet Acettin were detained in the operation, as well as ETHA reporters Havva Çuştan and Ozancan Sarı, and Ceylan Publishing employee Gülçin Aykul.

There is reportedly a 4-day detention period for those taken into custody in the operation.