The houses of the political activists and party buildings of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) were targeted in night operation by the Turkish special forces. There is a journalist among those 48 people detained.
The party buildings of the ESP and the houses of numerous political activists were raided by the police in 12 provinces of Turkey, including the ESP headquarters in Istanbul. 48 people were detained, Mesopotamia Agency reports. ESP Co-Chair Özlem Gümüştaş, ETHA Newspaper reporter Pınar Gayıp and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Party Assembly member Sıtkı Güngör are among those detained.
It is reported that the Prosecutor’s Office in Izmir has opened the main investigation that caused the wave of detentions, mainly targeting the ESP members and activists all over the country.
Police reportedly broke the doors of some of the party buildings during the raid and many documents in the party buildings were confiscated by the police.
Those detained include the following names: ESP Co-Chair Özlem Gümüştaş, ETHA Newspaper reporter Pınar Gayıp, HDP’s party assembly member Sıtkı Güngör, Satiye Ok, ESP Istanbul Co-Chair, Ezgi Bahçeci, Pınar Türk, lawyer Kamil Ağaoğlu, Zindan Dorudemir, Alev Özkiraz, Ozan Özgenler, Kerim Altınmakas, Tuncay Kılıç, Rıdvan Coşkun, Nesrin Salduz, Kutay Soybil, Efe Özcan, Hakan Kafadar, Nazlı Masatçı, Orçun Masatçı (Karantinada olduğu için gözaltına alınmadı), Mehmet Küçükgünaydın, Yunus Kara, Medine Çam, Burak Yılmaz.
ESP’s youth organisation, the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGFD) were targeted by an ISIS bombing when they had been gathering for a press conference before a planned visit to the Syrian Kurdish enclave of Kobani to assist with its reconstruction in 2015. 33 members of the SGDF died in the attack, as dozens were injured.
Peoples’ Democratic Party Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ, who is currently imprisoned, was previously the Co-Chair of the ESP.
