Turkey – Repression against the 1st of May – Update

The democratic newspapaer Yeni Demokrasi reports, that a decision was made by the authorities to release the Partizan-1st-of-May-prisoners.

6 Partizan readers were arrested on the 1st of May for carrying Partizan banners with the silhouette of İbrahim Kaypakkaya. While Yusuf Rencüzoğulları, one of the prisoners, was released as a result of the objection of his lawyers, a decision was made to release Diyar Sarıkuş, İbrahim Hakkı Eren, Metin Kaya, Mertcan İncioğulları and Özgür Cihan Uçar at the interim hearing held on Friday.

The captive Partizans were released from Marmara Prison in Silivri in the evening. The first hearing of the case filed against all the 17 people detained of the Partizan cortege on 1st of May – on charges of “opposition to 2911”, “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “praising crime and criminals” will be held on July 17 at the Istanbul 24th High Criminal Court.

Yesterday it was reported that an investigation was opened by the Rectorate of Istanbul University against the students who participated in the 1st of May protests held in Saraçhane, Istanbul. The Rectorate asked the students to submit a defense as for them considering participating in the 1st of May as a crime, Istanbul University administration they accused the students of “lack of discipline”.

The investigation included the following statements: “The subject of the investigation is about the incident that took place on 01.05.2024 in front of the Bozdoğan Aqueduct in Saraçhane, Fatih District, within the scope of the 1st of May Labor and Solidarity Fund Activities, and it is claimed that you violated Article 54 of Law No. 2547. In accordance with the 5th paragraph of Article 54 of the said Law, you must make a defense and report any excuses in a timely manner. Otherwise, you will be deemed to have given up your defense and a decision will be made about you based on the

available evidence.”

Hence, the harsh repression against the democratic forces in Turkey continues despite the good news of the releae of the six Partizan readers.