The number of detentions in the northern Kurdish metropolis of Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) has risen to eight. Raids by anti-terrorist police units in various districts of the city continue. A total of 30 people are wanted.

In the meantime, the background has also become clear. In the run-up to a visit by Turkish regime leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Amed on Saturday as part of a festival, the chief public prosecutor's office in Diyarbakır ordered a wave of purges within Kurdish civil society. Officially, the arrest action is justified by an "anonymous tip about planned criminal offences". The investigation file was classified and lawyers are banned access.

Most of those detained so far are activists from Kurdish civil society. Among them is the artist Sarya Ertaş, who is known for her contemporary songs in Kurdish and works for the Ma Music Center. Likewise, Zilan Dağ, newspaper editor of the pro-Kurdish Yeni Yaşam, was taken into custody.

The Turkish repressive authorities are apparently afraid of protests against Erdoğan's visit. Public anger is also directed these days against a festival organised by the Turkish Cultural Centre in the old district of Sur, which is supposed to "crown" the city's cultural heritage. This is hardly to be surpassed in mockery and cynicism.

Sur has a five-thousand-year history and was a historical centre of different cultures until the winter of 2015/2016. In the course of a military siege, it was first bombed to rubble by the Turkish army before residential areas were expropriated and the population displaced. The destruction continues to this day.