Police raid language association MED-DER and publisher Payîz Pirtûk in Amed

The attack on Kurdish culture in Turkey continues. After dozens of people were imprisoned for Kurdish dances, the state is now cracking down on language and cultural institutions.

Police have stormed the headquarters of the Research Association for Languages ​​and Culture of Mesopotamia (MED-DER) and the Kurdish bookstore Payîz Pirtûk in Amed (Diyarbakir).

Searches of the buildings lasted several hours. Several employees of the institutions have reportedly been taken into custody. MED-DER has been offering lessons in the Kurdish dialects Kurmancî and Kirmanckî for years.

Raids and arrests in Mardin

The police also struck in Mardin (Mêrdîn). A series of raids took place in the district of Kızıltepe (Qoser). In addition to several other people, former HDP board members Necla Kaya, Abdulgani Feritoğulları and Yasemin Demirkaya were taken into custody. The arrested people were taken to the district headquarters of the military police.