Not a day goes by in Northern Kurdistan without people from the democratic opposition and civil society being targeted by the political genocide operations of the Turkish regime. In the Cizre district of Şırnak, fifteen people were remanded in custody on Tuesday and taken to a high-security prison in the province of Şırnak. The prosecutor and judge cited alleged statements by a supposed "witness" who accused the persons concerned of being members of a "terrorist organisation" as grounds for ordering their pre-trial detention. It is suspected that the statements of the witness, who was kept anonymous, were fabricated in order to make accusations.

Those detained last Friday during raids by special units of the Turkish gendarmerie and police in the Cudi and Nur neighbourhoods and imprisoned today include Remzi Dadak, from the district executive of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). In total, the special forces forcibly detained 18 people four days ago. While two of them were released after interrogation by the public prosecutor, a third person was released on condition of judicial control.

On the other hand, two people were taken into custody in Bitlis province today. The detainees are Berivan Birlik, co-chair of the provincial association of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), and Mahmut Arukbağ of the local executive of the Green Left Party. The police did not give reasons for the detentions.