In the morning hours, Turkish police stormed several apartments in Izmir and Urfa and detained eight people.

During the raids in Izmir, five people were detained on charges of "membership of a terrorist organisation" and "propaganda for a terrorist organisation". Those arrested were taken to the Çankaya police headquarters.

Three arrests in Urfa

According to current information, the raids in Urfa were directed against the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Party council member of the Party of Democratic Regions (DBP, organised in the HDP) Bekir Karageçili, HDP Viranşehir district co-chair Hıdır Oktay and Ihsak Gündüz from the HDP district executive board were detained. Bozova city councillor Sema Ayşeoğlu (HDP) was also supposed to be arrested, but was not found at home.

Arrests in Istanbul

In Istanbul, five members of the HDP Youth Assembly who had been detained on 1 July were remanded in custody. They are also accused of "membership to a terrorist organization" and "propaganda for a terrorist organization". Four other activists were released on condition of judicial control.

Almost every day the Erdoğan regime arrests opposition activists on terror charges. In most cases, a tweet critical of the regime is enough to get arrested.