*Updated at 17:00 (CET)
The wave of police raids and arrests targeting pro-Kurdish circles which began before the Turkish election is continuing in the country’s Kurdish-majority southeastern cities. A number of individuals were arrested in dawn raids in Muş (Mûş) and Şırnak (Şirnex) on Monday morning.
At least 18 people were arrested in dawn raids in Muş, where it is reported that the arrests were in connection with their attendance at the funeral, held in Muş, of artist Mîr Perwer (Mehmet Şirin Aydın), who was killed in an armed attack on the Ahmet Kaya Kurdish Culture Centre in Paris in December 2022.
Simultaneous house raids in Şırnak resulted in the arrest of 12 people including local officials of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP).
At least 100 people have been arrested in Şırnak since the presidential run-off vote on 28 May. Some of the detainees have been remanded in custody to await trial.
Mesut Nart, co-chair of the Cizre (Cizîr) district branch of HDP in Şırnak, told Mezopotmya Agency that he believed the raids were connected to the election results, recalling the high percentage of anti-government votes in Şırnak and its districts. In his view, the current operations are driven by a desire for revenge.
According to Nart, certain neighbourhoods in Cizre have been under police siege since the first round of the elections on 14 May, and he alleges that the police used violence and ill-treatment during the raids.