Turkey: Four HDP activists detained for "pandemic aid”

In Adana, four HDP activists, including the co-chair of the Ceyhan district association, have been detained on terror charges. They are accused of having passed on aid packages in the Coronavirus crisis to “guerrilla fighters”.

Four HDP activists were detained on Friday in Ceyhan district of Adana province in southern Turkey. Among them is the co-chair of the district association, Seyfettin Aydemir. He and Sabri Duman, Şahin Dorak and Umut Dorak are accused of having passed on aid packages to guerrilla fighters in the Amanos Mountains as part of the twin family campaign launched for needy families in the Coronavirus crisis initiated by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in early April. There is no evidence for the accusations.

The detention of the four activists took place at noon at the Ceyhan police headquarters, as they had been asked to give a verbal statement in advance due to investigations into "support for a terrorist organization". As soon as Aydemir and his party comrades entered the building, they were taken into custody at the instigation of the responsible public prosecutor's office. It was learned that they would be released after their interrogation. It is doubtful whether the preliminary proceedings will be discontinued.