The Sarmaşık solidarity organization continues to be a target of repression four years after it was banned through Statutory Decree no 677 on November 22, 2016.

Dr. Mehmet Selim Ölçer from the board of the aid association was sentenced to two years and one month in prison before the 9th Criminal Chamber of the court in Diyarbakır for "intentionally aiding a terrorist organization".

Before getting banned in 2016, the Sarmaşık Association had previously become known worldwide as an exemplary aid and solidarity organization. At the time, the association, which was mainly active in Amed, set up free supermarkets and all kinds of other services for the impoverished population in the Kurdish city, which had grown massively as a result of displacement and village destruction.