Since the beginning of the week, around forty people from Kurdish politics and culture have been in police custody in Adana. The charge is "terrorism", and the investigation file is covered by a confidentiality order.
The wave of arrests that has been rolling through large parts of the Çukurova plain and other regions in Turkey since the beginning of the week, starting in Adana, points to a far-reaching repressive strike against structures of the Kurdish cultural scene and politics. The Adana Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has extended the detention of the almost forty people concerned twice, citing "suspicion of terrorism". The authorities do not want to give reasons or more detailed information on the proceedings.
At least 37 people were taken into custody on Monday in Adana, Seyhan and Mersin, but also in the Kurdish cities of Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) and Mardin. Officially, the investigation is against the Binevş Art and Culture Association, which is based in Adana. Among those detained are artists and association workers, including İlyas Arzu, Murat Gürbüz, Suat Ekin and Jiyan Savcı, as well as politicians from the HDP and its sister party DBP, including the two co-chairs of HDP Adana provincial branch, Helin Kaya and Mehmet Karakış, and the spokespersons of HDP Çukurova, as well as activists of the women's movement TJA and board members of Aykay-Der, a solidarity association for people who have lost relatives in the Kurdish liberation struggle. The deputy mayor of the district of Seyhan, Funda Buyruk, has also been detained. They are all accused of being members of a "terrorist organisation" or "activities" for the same.
As the investigations are classified, lawyers of the arrested persons have no access to the file. Turkish prosecutors make inflationary use of such confidentiality orders in proceedings labelled "terrorism" to torpedo the defence. This restriction of the legal position not only prevents access to the investigation documents, but also denies those involved any possibility of verifying the authenticity of the information and evidence on the alleged crime.
It is still unclear whether and when those affected by the wave of repression in Adana will be brought before a court. So far, the police have offered "voluntary talks" to the detainees, but no interrogations have taken place. HDP MP Kemal Peköz sees this as an "apparent attempt to intimidate" those affected. "We know that they are being pressured to make themselves available as supposed key witnesses against alleged criminals and to denounce them as terrorists," said Peköz. He added that they are very familiar with "futile methods like these" and will let them come to nothing.
