Öcalan's lawyers office raided in Istanbul - NEW

Öcalan's lawyers office raided in Istanbul - NEW

Reports are coming through of searches at the office of Asrýn Hukuk Bürosu in Istanbul. This is the office lawyers of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan are affiliated to.

It is understood that hundreds of policemen are in the building since earlier this morning and the road around the office has been closed until 2pm.

It is also understood that searches are going on in several other buildings in different cities. Indeed there are reports of some 70 people taken into custody. Of these, at least 48 are said to be lawyers.

Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem was also targeted by police this morning.

BDP former executive lawyer Hüseyin Çalýþçý has been taken into custody. In Bursa, following a search at her house, Öcalan lawyer Ayþe Batumlu is said to have been taken into custody.

Police operations are carried in the context of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK).

While details are coming through it seemed that raids have been carried out simultaneously in 16 provinces, including Ýstanbul, Þanlýurfa, Ýzmir, Bursa, Muþ, Van, Batman, Kars, Denizli and Diyarbakýr.

Among the people taken into custody are: BDP Diyarbakýr co-chair Ömer Ömer, Baðlar council deputy mayor Derya Tamriþ, Councillors Kadri Gökdemir, lawyers Baran Pamuk, Fuat Coþacak, Nuri Çelik, Mehmet Nuri Deniz, Baðlar BDP chair Ali Yüce, and Fatma Kýzýlkaya, Þafi Hayme.