The Editor-in-Chief of the People's Daily ('Halkın Günlüğü') newspaper, Hıdır Gürz, and the paper's representative in Mersin, Deniz Kısmetli, are among the 23 people who were taken into police custody in the course of police operations carried out in seven different provinces.

The operations conducted by the Anti-Terror Branch started on Tuesday evening (22 February) and went on till the morning hours of 23 February. A considerable amount of material was confiscated during the searches of the offices of the People's Daily newspaper and the Democratic Peoples Association and the homes of members of the Democratic Peoples Federation (DHF).

The People's Daily newspaper is part of the extra-parliamentary opposition which is highly critical of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

It was announced that the people who were taken into custody during the operations in Adana, Amed (Diyarbakır), Hatay, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Mersin and Zonguldak were brought to Adana (eastern tip of the Mediterranean coast).

Chief Editor Gürz was in Zonguldak (western Black Sea coast) because of work at the time of the operation, it was reported. He was arrested in a raid on the house he was accomodated in as a guest.

DHF calls for protesting the operation

On Thursday (24 February), the DHF organized protest actions and released press statements in protest of the police custodies in seven different provinces. The federation called for "increasing the solidarity with the revolutionary, democratic and progressive public opinion".

Protest actions were organized for Dersim, Antalya, Denizli, Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. (EÇ/EÖ/VK)