Police Raid İHD Offices, Detain Nearly 40 People

Law enforcement officials launched simultaneous raids in five cities across Turkey including the southern provinces of Adana and Mersin and the southeastern province of Diyarbakır this morning, taking nearly 40 people under custody as part of their operations against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK.)

Officers from the Mersin Police Headquarters also raided the offices of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and seized a number of documents and computers, İHD officials in Mersin told bianet.    

Reports indicate that Ali Tanrıverdi, the head of the İHD's Mersin branch, was also among the detainees. İHD officials in Mersin said they were not in possession of any such information as of yet but did not deny those claims and added they were not able to reach Tanrıverdi through his phone either.

"[Officers] conducted a search by opening the door with the help of a locksmith in the absence of any of our managers and without our prior knowledge," İHD officials said.

Dicle news agency (DİHA) reporter Ferhat Arslan, as well as Aynur Aşan and Musa Kulu, the provincial co-chairs of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP,) are also reported to be among the detainees. (YY)