Five people were detained during house searches in the district of Ergani in Amed (Diyarbakır) province. Among the detainees are Ahmet Kaya and the lawyer Ramazan Kartalmış, two former co-mayors of the district. The background to the detentions is an investigation initiated by the Ergani public prosecutor's office in 2023, the Diyarbakır Bar Association announced on Saturday.

The other detainees are Gülistan Polat, Esveri Malkoç and Cavidan Yaman, three former employees of Ergani Municipality. The Bar Association announced that the investigation against them had been classified. Due to this order, lawyers are not allowed to view the files. In addition, a 24-hour contact ban has been imposed on the detainees, during which they have no possibility of access to lawyers.

Measures such as confidentiality clauses or bans on lawyers are a common delaying tactic used by Turkish repressive authorities to fabricate suspicions. The method is used as standard for cases involving ‘terrorism’. The Bar Association and the local branch of the ÖHD (Association of Lawyers for Freedom) in Amed condemned the detentions as unlawful and “politically motivated” and called for the immediate release of those affected.