A Turkish court on Thursday ordered the arrest of 47 people, mainly members of the left-wing Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), as well as journalists, on charges of terrorist organization membership and propaganda, the Yeni Yaşam news website reported.
The İstanbul Criminal Magistrate of Peace also ruled that nine detainees be released pending trial, out of a total of 56 individuals referred to the court for arrest by the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The arrestees include former lawmaker and ESP co-chair Murat Çepni and journalists Pınar Gayıp, Nadiye Gürbüz and Elif Bayburt. They are accused of “membership in a terrorist organization” and “disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization.”
Representatives from several political parties gathered outside the İstanbul Courthouse on Tuesday following a call by the ESP. Demonstrators criticized the detentions in what they described as political genocide and demanded the immediate release of those detained.
The individuals were detained during police raids carried out on February 3 in 23 provinces. Legal procedures are still ongoing for 45 other people detained during the same operations.
The Law Office of the Oppressed (EHB) said the investigation is based on witness statements, the suspects’ participation in meetings and demonstrations and small sums of money transferred among them, as reported by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK). EHB added that given the scale of the detentions, it views the case as resembling an attempt to shut down the ESP.
The police operations were carried out 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.
