In the parliamentary elections on May 14, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which is under threat of being banned, contested under the umbrella of the Green Left Party, which has been constantly targeted by the Turkish regime since.

Turkish police carried out raids in the province of Tekirdağ in western Turkey on June 14. During the operation in the early morning hours, five members of the Green Left Party were taken into custody. A confidentiality order was placed on the file to restrict access to the file.

After their referral to the courthouse, the detainees were remanded in custody for alleged “membership in a terrorist organization”, meaning the PKK.

The detainees, who have been sent to Muratlı Prison in Tekirdağ, include Green Left Party MP candidate for Tekirdağ, Seyithan Kırmızı, and Green Left Party members Botan Kasırga, Nurettin Ağın, Nazlı Oran, Serkan Sadıç.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's regime has consistently criminalised the HDP since unilaterally ending the dialogue process with the Kurdish movement in 2015. Thousands of members have been arrested as alleged terror supporters and enemies of the state, including former co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, as well as dozens of mayors of Kurdish municipalities. Ankara wants to render pro-Kurdish politics incapable of action and is now also demonising the Green Left Party as "terrorist".