DBP politicians Remziye Bayhan and Bedia Adıgüzel, were taken into custody on Wednesday in Nusaybin (Nisêbîn) in the course of an "operation" by paramilitary special units for counterterrorism in which one woman died. If and when they will be transferred to a public prosecutor's office is still unclear, said their lawyer.

Also still in custody is Bayhan's spouse Mehmet Bayhan and another person who was injured in the raid and whose name has not been disclosed.

Five members of a family, the parents and their three children, have been released from police custody after questioning.

Remziye Bayhan, who is co-chair of the district branch of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), and her predecessor Bedia Adıgüzel were taken into custody two days ago, after a raid on an apartment on Sakarya Caddesi in central Nusaybin and taken to the police headquarters in the provincial capital Mardin (Mêrdîn). Terrorism was cited as the reason for the arrests. What they are specifically accused of, however, is not known. The Turkish authorities refused to give any information.

In the course of the attack on the apartment, which the Interior Ministry and the pro-government press called a "security operation", a fighter from the Kurdish women's guerrilla YJA Star is said to have died. There is still no reliable information on the circumstances of her death. The Ministry of the Interior spoke of "neutralizing a terrorist", while residents of the neighbourhood assume she killed herself in order to avoid possible capture. The PKK has not yet commented on what happened.