The Saturday Mothers' Initiative will file a criminal complaint against the Istanbul Police Headquarters. The background is incidents surrounding a visit to a cemetery on 30 August, the International Day Against Enforced Disappearance. The group gathered in front of the Altınşehir cemetery in the Başakşehir district. The plan was to lay carnations in the section for "the nameless", as Hasan Ocak and Rıdvan Karakoç, two "disappeared" people tortured and murdered in police custody in 1995, were temporarily buried there after being buried by state forces. It was their relatives who initiated the first "Saturday Mothers" vigil at Galatasaray Square in the same year, kicking off the longest-running civil disobedience action in Turkey.

But the flowers were not laid. The police were already on the scene with a heavily armed posse and had even positioned a water cannon when a few dozen members and supporters of the Saturday Mothers arrived at the Altınşehir cemetery. "All we wanted to do there was to read a short statement on the Day Against Enforced Disappearance and lay red carnations at the graves of the nameless," explained Maside Ocak, the sister of Hasan Ocak. "We were denied this request. A swarm of policemen approached us as we were moving towards the entrance of the cemetery and took us into a kettle. On duty as head of operations was (Muhammed) Hanifi Zengin, who is known for overstepping and violating the limits allowed by law when it comes to exercising the fundamental right to peaceful demonstration."

Zengin referred to a ban on assembly issued by the district administration and asked the Saturday mothers to leave the square. Ocak added: "We did not succeed because the police encirclement was not dispersed. Officers then pounced on us and made violent arrests. The reason given by the officer in charge was that we had not complied with the request to disperse the assembly." A total of fourteen people involved in the action were detained, including Maside Ocak and other relatives of "disappeared people" such as Besna and Hanım Tosun, Hasan Karakoç, Hanife Yıldız and the Istanbul IHD chairperson Gülseren Yoleri. The police detention, described by the group as "disproportionate and obviously unfounded", lasted for a total of ten hours. During this time, the detainees were harassed, bullied and subjected to several intensive searches by the police.

"There is no doubt that the intention was to intimidate us through these arrests," Maside Ocak said. For ten hours, lawyers, members of parliament and representatives of political parties intervened with the police to ensure the release of those detained. "The state is trying to silence the voice of those who are struggling for justice for their relatives murdered in state custody by such actions. But we will not be intimidated by the rulers who have eroded the rule of law. We insist on our constitutional rights and will continue our struggle for justice for the disappeared."