Kemal, Halit, Şıvan, Murat, Nihat and Şükrü Polat, who are from the same family, were detained in the raids on the village of Zêvkan in Yüksekova on 27 July.

The six have been in custody at the District Gendarmerie Command for 4 days. On Saturday, they were transferred to Yüksekova Courthouse to give their statement.

After the prosecution proceedings at the courthouse, the 6 people were transferred to Yüksekova Criminal Judgeship of Peace on charges of "aiding and abetting an illegal organization" and then sent to prison.

The six villagers were eventually sent to Van F Type Prison.

Villagers targeted by the governor

Pointing out that the arrest warrant issued by the court is unlawful, lawyer Necat Polat said: “This decision has no legal basis. In the governor's statement, our clients were already targeted and identified as members of an illegal organization. Therefore, the authority that makes the arrest decision is actually the governor. It is inexplicable that 6 people from the same family, whose only job is farming, were arrested in this way on the basis of abstract accusations. The arrest of a 72-year-old on the grounds of being a militia is beyond explanation.”