The police on Monday attacked the young people’s organizations that organized the handing out of leaflets to mark the 8th anniversary of the Suruç (Pirsûs) Massacre on 20 July.

The police took 44 people into custody. The young people, who were detained on Monday night, were brought to the courthouse on Tuesday. While 35 of the 44 people were released, 9 were referred to the Criminal Judgeship of Peace with a request for arrest.

Ayşe Beliz İnce, Gamze Toprak, Berkan Deveci, Yasemin Ebru Gürsoy, Merve Yeşilyurt and Ali Taha Sarabıyık were remanded in custody on charges of "Resisting officers carrying out their duty" and "Opposition to Law No. 2911".

The arrest decision was protested in front of the courthouse, by young people chanting "Justice for Suruç, justice for all".

Background

300 young people had gathered in front of the Amara cultural center on 20 July 2015 to hold a press conference before leaving for Kobanê. With that trip to Northern Syria, they wanted to show their solidarity and bring children's toys and humanitarian aid to the city that was being destroyed by ISIS. There are clear indications that the ISIS attackers received support from the Turkish secret service. The massacre has not yet been fully investigated. Therefore, activists continue to call for “Justice for Suruç”.

ESP accuses the Turkish regime

In a written statement, the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Headquarters, said: "The fascist regime had a single purpose: prevent the children of Gezi Park from going to help the people of Kobanê. For this reason, ‘33 dream travellers’ were killed by the MIT-ISIS at the Suruç Amara Cultural Center on the morning of 20 July.”

The statement added: "The suicide bomber carried out this massacre but the state offered ISIS what it needed. The same mentality continued in the trial as well. While not a single person was seated facing accusations, the families, lawyers and the survivors who spoke about the massacre were threatened and offended. Yakup Şahin, the only suspect of the massacre, was protected. It was documented that Ilhami Bali, the wanted suspect, was treated in a state hospital and it was announced that he was in Idlib. It was documented that Mahir El Agal, the planner of the massacre, was killed in the region under the auspices of the TAF and jihadist gangs in Syria, and that he had a fake ID given by the state institutions.”