Out of the 18 people who had been detained in Van's Çatak district the day before, 5 were referred to the prosecutor's office to give their statements yesterday following procedures at police headquarters.

The 5 detainees were later referred to court and arrested for allegedly "aiding and abetting a terrorist organization" in the evening. The arrested politicians are Çatak Co-mayor Celalettin Bartu, Deputy Mayor Turgut Babur, Municipal Council Member Atar Ertaş and DBP administrators Nihat Babur and Vehbi Batur.

Procedures continue at the police headquarters for the other 13 people who were detained in the same operation.