At least 16 people were arrested in police raids in the province of Siirt on Saturday. It is not clear, however, what the people concerned are accused of. The house searches took place simultaneously in several districts of the city.

So far, only the identities of eleven people who have been in custody for over 24 hours have been established. According to available information, these are Adalet Özer, Nevzat Elçi, Mahsun Polat, Mehmet Şefik Bilenç, Müşerif Dalkılıç, Sait Özbay, Kemal Cengiz, M. Şirin Altan, Şevket Dalkılıç and Şefik Bilen.

According to reports from Siirt, eight of those arrested have now been transferred to a court today.

The repression machine of the Turkish regime has been running at full speed since the unilaterally broken off peace negotiations by the Turkish side in July 2015. Waves of arrests and detentions against the Kurdish part of the population are initiated almost daily. Tens of thousands of people are in custody on vaguely formulated "terror charges".