At least nine young people were detained during house raids in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul on Friday morning. The raids in several districts of the city were directed against members of the Democratic Youth Councils. Those detained were taken to the notorious police headquarters on Vatan Street. No official information about the allegations was initially available.
Following a demonstration in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) last weekend, eight activists from the DEM Party’s Youth Council were taken into custody. The event organized by the Democratic Patriotic Youth Platform (DYGP) called for the release of Abdullah Öcalan and his participation in a possible peace process.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya sharply criticized the demonstration and publicly targeted the participants. Less than 24 hours later, raids were conducted at several addresses in Amed. Since demonstrators from Istanbul had also taken part in the event, lawyers suspect a direct connection with the current arrests in the city.