At least 83 demonstrators were detained after the Newroz celebration in Istanbul, Turkey, on Sunday.
It’s been announced by Istanbul Governor’s Office that there were 83 arrests, although there is no reason given for the arrests in the announcement.
Earlier, a journalist named Hayri Tunç was detained during the day on his way to the celebration area. Tunç tweeted that he was “getting arrested”. The reason for his arrest was still not clear on Monday.
Lawless practices by the police during celebrations included banning scarves displaying the picture of Selahattin Demirtaş, the imprisoned former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), on them. A street vendor has been taken into custody for selling Demirtaş scarves, Mezopotamya News Agency reported.
The police reportedly also tried to intervene as some of the demonstrators wrote ‘PKK’ (abbreviation for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and ‘Öcalan’ (imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan) on the side of the stage in the celebration area, but had to withdraw upon reaction from the demonstrators.
The Newroz (New Day), is celebrated by the Kurdish people on the spring equinox both as the arrival of the new year, and as a day of uprising for freedom.