Police in Van carried out an operation this morning against the Kurdish opposition. Several people were taken into custody following a number of house raids. The apartment of the co-chair of the Association of Families of the Fallen (MEBYA-DER), Gülistan Önver, was one of the places raided by police. Önver was taken into custody accused of "membership of a terrorist organization". Her books were confiscated and her home was ransacked. After a two-hour search, Önver was brought to the MEBYA-DER premises in Van. The offices were raided and Önver was then taken to the police's anti-terrorist department together with two other people. A 24-hour contact ban has been imposed on Önver so that legal consultation is not possible. It is believed that the number of those arrested will increase.

Repression on MEBYA-DER

MEBYA-DER, as an association that looks after the relatives of those who died in the Kurdish liberation struggle, is repeatedly targeted. The Turkish state is trying to turn the fallen guerrillas into a tool of psychological warfare by destroying graves and mistreating or mutilating dead bodies. MEBYA-DER is one of the institutions that opposes this policy.