Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Dersim Chairman Suat Demir was taken into custody on 7 January at Sabiha Gökçen Airport, soon after his return from Dersim to Istanbul. The reason of Demir’s detention was reported as connected to an earlier case opened against him.

On the other hand, including one child, three people were arrested in Bulanýk district of Muþ where police took eight people on 5 January with organized house raids. Arrested for “opposing the law on meetings and demonstrations”, detainees were sent to Muþ Closed Prison.

Arrests continued in Istanbul as well. Anti-terror police teams of Istanbul Police Department took 20 people into custody for allegedly joining “illegal” demonstrations.

Detentions came after house raids carried out by a large number of police teams at early morning hours. Women are reported to be among detainees.