Political extermination campaign in Turkey continues

The political extermination campaign in Turkey continued today with raids in four provinces. In the last four days, at least 136 opposition members have been taken into custody. Many of those affected are refugees from Syria.

The AKP/MHP regime in Turkey continues operations to eliminate the Kurdish and democratic opposition. The 21 people detained on 2 October in Istanbul and Kırklareli, including executive committee members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and civil society organisations, will be brought before the judiciary today after police interrogations.

On 3 October, 55 people were taken into custody in 16 provinces, most of them refugees. Twenty detained women were released after giving their statements on Wednesday evening. The women were accused of membership in a terrorist organisation and questioned during interrogation about a military security agency ("Saziya Ewlekariya Leşkeri") allegedly located in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria. The police asked the women to identify persons from this authority and provide their home addresses. Four of the released women were taken to a deportation centre. For the other 35 detainees, the interrogations are to begin today.

On 4 October, 37 more people were detained in 15 different provinces. The detainees are apparently accused of "social media" posts.

According to the Turkish Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, 24 people were taken into custody today in flat raids in the provinces of Erzurum, Antep, Istanbul and Şırnak. At least 136 people have been taken into custody in the political extermination campaign of the last four days.