At least 110 people were arrested in Turkey on Tuesday in a “counter-terrorism” operation targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a police source told AFP.
The operation, which comes three weeks before crucial elections for Turkey, was carried out in 21 provinces of the country, including that of Diyarbakir (southeast), with a Kurdish majority.
According to the Diyarbakir Bar Association, interviewed by AFP, “the total number of arrests could reach 150”, including at least “about twenty lawyers, 5 journalists, 3 theater actors and a politician”, said she detailed.
Lawyers are banned from all contact with their clients for 24 hours, the association said. “The homes of many people, including journalists, lawyers and NGO leaders, were raided in the early hours of the morning,” said freedom NGO MLSA.
The presidential and legislative elections are held on May 14 in Turkey and will be decisive for the maintenance, or not, of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP party, in power for two decades.
The opposition presents a united front of six parties which has nominated a single candidate for the presidency, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, supported by the pro-Kurdish party HDP.
