In Istanbul, Antalya, Amed (Diyarbakir), Hatay, Izmir and several other places in Turkey, 14 people were arrested during simultaneous house searches on Tuesday. The wave of arrests was directed against the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), which is a member party of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Among those arrested is also the co-spokesperson of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), Sedat Şenoğlu. Besides the 14 arrests, the apartments of two other ESP members were stormed, but they were not at home at the time of the search. A member of the Legal Bureau of the Oppressed (EHB) could not be found in his apartment either. In the course of the police operation, it became known that the list of people to be arrested includes 17 people in total.

Those arrested have not yet been given the opportunity to communicate with a lawyer, as a 24-hour restriction on the right to legal counsel has been ordered.

Besides Sedat Şenoğlu, the arrested persons are ESP members Çiçek Otlu, Volkan Uyar, Mustafa Naci Toper, Selver Orman, Ilke Başak Baydar, Yücel Karadağ, Ozan Özgenler, Ozancan Sarı, Ilhan Aslan, Alper Kaba, Ezgi Bedel, Zekeriya Aykut Karnap and Gözde Sivaslıoğlu.