Turkish authorities have arrested 30 people, including pro-Kurdish and socialist politicians, journalists and activists, following their detention in a series of police raids across 10 provinces this week as part of an investigation into the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), an umbrella organization for left-wing and pro-Kurdish groups, Turkish Minute reported on Saturday.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office targeted individuals allegedly linked to the HDK, which authorities describe as a front organization for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). Police had initially detained 52 people on Tuesday, with 13 later put under house arrest and seven released under judicial supervision.
Among those arrested were Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Central Executive Committee members Semiha Şahin and Mehmet Saltoğlu; Labor Party (EMEP) İstanbul Provincial Chair Sema Barbaros; journalists Yıldız Tar, Elif Akgül and Ercüment Akdeniz; and singer Pınar Aydınlar. The arrestees also included members of the Green Left Party and the Socialist Refoundation Party (SYKP).
Authorities cited a 2019 ruling by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals that labeled the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), a group closely associated with the HDK, as a terrorist organization. Officials accused the arrestees of facilitating recruitment efforts for PKK-linked militants and claimed they played a role in past unrest, including the 2014 Kobani protests and the 2015 urban clashes in southeastern Turkey.
The arrests come amid renewed discussions about a potential peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK, with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan reportedly working on a new roadmap to end the decades-long conflict. Pro-Kurdish politicians met with Öcalan and Kurdish leaders in Iraq’s Kurdistan region in recent weeks, but the latest crackdown has raised doubts about the government’s willingness to engage in negotiations.
The arrests follow the Turkish government’s removal of DEM Party member Abdullah Zeydan as mayor of Van, replacing him with a state-appointed trustee, a move that sparked protests and led to the detention of 400 demonstrators. The European Parliament has condemned this and similar dismissals and urged sanctions against Turkish officials responsible for removing opposition mayors.
Since a failed coup attempt in 2016, Turkey has appointed trustees to more than 100 municipalities, mostly in Kurdish-majority areas, drawing international criticism for undermining democratic governance.
