Mass Crackdowns on 'Democratic Solution Tents'
The Democratic Solution Tents put up as a means of civil disobedience were raided in 17 different cities all over the country at 2.00 am on Monday morning (25 April). The tents in the south-eastern cities of Batman, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Bingöl, Gaziantep, Şırnak, Siirt, Van, Adana, Mersin, Mardin and Muş, Tunceli and Ağrı in the east, İzmir and Manisa in the west and Iğdır in north-eastern Anatolia were struck after the raid and confiscated together with all belongings inside.
The Democratic Solution Tents are an initiative of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and the Peace Mothers Group to draw attention to a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question.
Many people were taken into police custody in the course of the crackdowns. MP candidate for the Labour, Freedom and Democracy Block Ferhat Tunç got wounded at his head.
The pro-Kurdish BDP and non-governmental organizations issued joint press releases in several provinces on Tuesday (26 April).
Meanwhile, 35 people were taken into custody as the result of a raid in the context of the KCK investigation into the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) carried out in Hakkari at the same day. BDP municipality officials are among the people in custody as well as provincial chairs.
The tent in Siirt next to the parking lot of the municipality was raided by about 500 policemen. The entire belongings inside the tent and also the tent itself were seized. The members of the Peace Mothers Initiative who were on guard inside the tent started a sit-down protest. At the same time, the tent in the Karapınar district of Adıyaman was raided. Eight people were taken into custody.
The people on guard in the tent set up in the Silopi district of Şırnak were removed from the tent by force. The search of the tent took three hours. The tents in the districts of Cizre, Nusabybin and İdil were removed too.
Independent MP Candidate Tunç, the Mayor of Tunceli, Edibe Şahin, and the BDP Tunceli Provincial Chair, Suat Demir, came to the scene when they heard about the raid of the tent in the Seyit Rıza district of Tunceli. People had started a sit-down protest inside the tent. Tunç was hit on his head with an iron stick taken from the belongings seized from the tent by the police. Tunç was slightly injured. Also this tent was struck and taken to the Tunceli Police Directorate.
Dozens of people were taken into custody when tents in different districts were removed, namely in Adana, Mersin, Manisa, Malatya (south-east), İzmir, Iğdır, Gaziantep, Batman, in the Kızıltepe district of Mardin, the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır, the Karlıova districts of Bingöl, the Varto, Malazgirt and Bulanık districts of Muş and the Patnos and Doğubayazıt districts of Ağrı. (AS/VK)