Istanbul police detained at least ten members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) while issuing a press statement on Friday. The reason given for the detentions was a ban on meetings, other events and gatherings in public spaces issued by the district governorate. The detainees face charges and fines for violation of the right of assembly.

For the planned press statement, members of ESP and its youth organisation, the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations of Turkey (SGDF), gathered in front of the women's prison in the Bakırköy district. The action was to end a three-day solidarity hunger strike initiated by ESP and SGDF in protest against the solitary confinement conditions of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is held on the prison island of Imrali. At the same time, the hunger strike was also intended to send a signal against the institutionalised disenfranchisement of political prisoners. For some time now, hunger strikes against the unacceptable prison conditions have been taking place in almost all prisons in Turkey, including Bakırköy.

"Strengthen solidarity - break isolation" was the motto of the ESP hunger strike, which could also be read on a banner. The police surrounded the group and asked the participants to leave the area around the cordoned-off place. "Freedom of expression and fundamental rights cannot be banned" was first heard from the crowd as a reaction to the police action. Afterwards, the slogans "The revolutionary prisoners are our dignity" and "Down with fascism - long live the resistance" were shouted.