Turkey arrests 30 journalists, pro-Kurdish politicians in crackdown on Peoples' Democratic Congress

Duvar English

Turkish authorities on Feb. 21 arrested 30 out of 54 people detained in operations targeting the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) across 10 provinces on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization." 

The HDK founded in 2011 and consists of an alliance of left-wing and pro-Kurdish civil society associations, political organizations, and parties

Among those arrested after being detained for four days were Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party executives Semiha Şahin and Mehmet Saltoğlu along with Labor Party (EMEP) Istanbul Chair Sema Barbaros.  

Courts also arrested LGBTI+ news platform KaosGL’s editor-in-chief Yıldız Tar along with journalists Ercüment Akdeniz, and Elif Akgül, as well as artist Pınar Aydınlar.

Additionally, 13 individuals were placed under house arrest, while seven were released under judicial control measures.

Journalists questioned over decade-old wiretaps 

During interrogations, authorities questioned detainees about wiretap recordings from 2012 and 2013, conferences organized by HDK, Gezi Park protests, and May Day demonstrations.

Journalists and their lawyers argued that the recordings were obtained illegally over a decade ago by prosecutors later convicted for ties to the Fethullah Gülen movement which was deemed as a terrorist organization by the government.

They also noted that previous investigations based on these wiretaps had been dismissed and emphasized that the Court of Cassation had ruled HDK to be a legal organization despite the prosecutor’s claims.

Journalist Tar stated that the wiretap recordings cited in the investigation were from conversations held in 2012 and 2013 with Boğaziçi University’s LGBTI+ student organization and feminist groups regarding International Women’s Day events. 

Tar emphasized that these recordings were unlawfully obtained by prosecutors later convicted for ties to the Gülen movement.

Investigation involves names of thousands

As part of the ongoing investigation into the HDK, Turkish authorities have reportedly launched probes against 4,753 individuals for alleged "membership in a terrorist organization," with 1,640 of them linked to Istanbul. 

The list includes deceased individuals, such as politician Fener Günana, who passed away from a heart attack in 2023, and imprisoned figures like Ali Deniz Kılıç, who has been in Marmara Prison since 2016.

The prosecutor's office claims that the recent detainees were active within HDK's Istanbul structure and argues that the organization serves as a "legal front" for an alternative assembly to the Turkish Parliament and it was deemed a “terrorist organization” by the Court of Cassation in a 2019 decision.

However, legal experts note that the cited Court of Cassation ruling does not even mention HDK.

HDK condemns mass arrests as “political hostage-taking”

Following the arrests of 30 individuals, HDK Co-Spokesperson and DEM Party lawmaker Meral Danış Beştaş denounced the detentions outside Istanbul Courthouse. "We cannot say our friends were arrested—they were taken hostage," she stated, calling the operation a politically motivated crackdown.

Beştaş criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), rejecting claims that Turkey upholds democracy and the rule of law.

She labeled the mass arrests as a "coup practice" and accused the judiciary of issuing "copy-paste" rulings dictated by political authorities.

"Artists, politicians, human rights defenders, socialists, and democracy activists were left waiting for hours, only to receive pre-written detention orders," she said.