The open-air wedding ceremony of a Kurdish family in Türközü neighbourhood in Mamak district of Ankara was raided by the anti-terror police. The police cited local dresses and victory signs as the reason for the raid. Police officers from the Anti-Terror Branch (TEM) demanded footage of the wedding, claiming that there was a complaint about the ceremony. The police checked the camera footage and left the wedding, demanding that the footage be delivered to them at the end of the wedding, since it was a two-day event.

TEM POLICE CAME FOR THE FIRST TIME

Speaking to Mezopotamya Agency (MA), İlhan Karaman, one of the relatives of the family, said, “We have been holding our wedding ceremonies here in the same way for 25 years. The police came to our weddings many times before but never the anti-terror police. Previously, they used to come citing reasons such as making noise during the weddings. We are from Hakkari and we always have wedding events. This is the first time we encounter such a situation.”

AN ALLEGED RALLY

“They told us that there was a complaint about the 'local dresses'. They claimed that it was not a wedding, but rather a political rally. They told us that we could continue the event, but they asked for the footage to examine it later. They wanted the footage to be forwarded to them after the event,” Kahraman added.