Turkish police have once again prevented the Saturday Mothers, a collective demanding justice for their disappeared relatives, from continuing their march to Galatasaray Square in Istanbul, detaining 27 people. This marks the 18th consecutive time that the peaceful protest has been blocked, despite a previous Constitutional Court ruling stating that a ban on their weekly vigil violated their rights.
The Saturday Mothers, who have been protesting for 958 weeks, were joined at this week’s vigil by Sırrı Süreyya Önder, an MP from the pro-Kurdish Green Left Party and deputy speaker of the Turkish Parliament, Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, co-chairs of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Ahmet Şık, Istanbul MP from the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP), and numerous human rights defenders.
The MPs found themselves surrounded by police as they marched with the Saturday Mothers towards Galatasaray Square and responded to the blockade, trapped inside the cordon.
The Saturday Mothers were then detained and handcuffed. During the arrest, journalists were also prevented by police from taking photographs.
Similar protests in support of the Saturday Mothers took place in Adana and Tunceli (Dersim). The press statement planned by the Adana branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD) was banned by the Adana Governor’s Office on the grounds that “the movement of pedestrians and vehicles is partially or completely obstructed, public tranquillity and welfare are endangered and the rights and freedoms of others are restricted”. In Tunceli, a banner reading “Let the decisions of the Constitutional Court be implemented, lift the Galatasaray blockade” was unfurled and a press statement was read out by Gürbüz Solmaz, co-chair of the Tunceli branch of İHD.
A parallel demonstration was organised in solidarity with the Saturday Mothers in the Kurdish-majority province of Diyarbakır (Amed) in Turkey. The İHD and families of the disappeared held demonstrations to demand justice for Abdulhakim Kartal, whose whereabouts have remained unknown since 16 August 1991.
