Edanur Ibrahimoğlu, spokesperson for the Youth Council of HEDEP (Peoples’ Party for Equality and Democracy) and member of the party’s Central Executive Board, was detained at a rally in Istanbul on Thursday. The female activist was hit so hard in the eye with a fist by an officer that it became completely swollen shut. Photos published by HEDEP on X (formerly Twitter) also show the result of the mistreatment.

The protest in Istanbul had been organized by an alliance of political parties and civil society organizations and was directed against Turkey's genocidal campaign in Kurdistan. Istanbul police anti-riot units surrounded the group and broke up the gathering. In addition to Ibrahimoğlu, 45 other people, including the co-chair of the provincial association of HEDEP, Murat Kalmaz, were detained in the crackdown.

The police took action against the mostly Kurdish demonstrators. Almost all the detainees were beaten without any apparent motive and forced into prison buses with their hands tied behind their backs. According to the HEDEP Youth Council, the assaults on those detained continued at the police station.