A Turkish court on Friday ordered the arrest of 30 additional people in an investigation targeting the left-wing Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), expanding a crackdown that has so far led to 77 arrests.
According to the Sendika.org news website, the İstanbul Criminal Magistrate of Peace ruled that 16 other detainees be released pending trial out of 46 people referred to the court.
Among those detained ETHA reporter Müslüm Koyun was arrested, while fellow journalist Züleyha Müldür was released pending trial.
On Thursday 47 people, including ESP members and journalists, were arrested as part of the same investigation. The individuals had been detained during police raids carried out on February 3 in 23 provinces.
The police operations were conducted amid widespread demonstrations in Turkey protesting the Syrian army’s offensive on Kurdish-held northeastern Syria.
Northeastern Syria is largely controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have been a key US ally in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Ankara views the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which dominate the SDF, as an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group that has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives, and the group is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, including the European Union and the United States.
