Turkish police raided several homes in the province of Muş on Sunday morning. Berfin Yekta, a member of the HEDEP (Peoples’ Party for Equality and Democracy) Youth Council, was detained in the village of Kızılağaç.

In the village of Elçiler, the home of HEDEP Youth Council member Maruf Çelikel was raided and searched. Çelikel, who was meant to be detained, was not home during the raid.

During the raids, doors and windows were smashed by the police and the flats were vandalised. No reason was given for the raids.

Maruf Çelikel has been in the sights of the Turkish authorities for some time. Two months ago, the young Kurdish activist discovered a listening device in his flat. He made the incident public and reported that he was being followed and pressurised by the police to act as an informer. His home was last searched in 2022. Çelikel was detained during a police crackdown on a demonstration held in Muş on 12 October in protest at the Turkish attacks against North-East Syria.

Dozens of members of the HEDEP Youth Council have been detained in recent weeks. Over a hundred people were taken into custody in Turkey around the anniversary of the founding of the PKK on 27 November.