Massive crackdown in Turkey
Featured image: protesters in Saraçhane, Istanbul. Source: Yeni Demokrasi.
The Turkish State is unleashing a brutal and massive repression against the people due to the widespread protests taking place in the country following the arrest of Istanbul’s mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu. There are reports of hundreds of arrests and police raids in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, and Eskisehir. Among those arrested, 143 are in Saraçhane, Istanbul, and remain in police custody, including four children.
Multiple police assaults are occurring in homes, resulting in 176 arrests in Izmir, a city where the protests are particularly prominent, massive, and combative. There are also numerous arrests from their own university dormitories in this same city, including a reader from Partizan.
The Turkish state is committing numerous crimes during this repressive wave it is unleashing: there are reports of torture and strip searches against female prisoners in Ankara. Furthermore, lawyers from the democratic lawyers’ association ÇHD were not allowed to meet with the arrested individuals in Istanbul. The X (formerly Twitter) account of this association has also been blocked, making it inaccessible in Turkey:
Repression on social media continues. Yeni Demokrasi reports that within 24 hours, at least 55 X accounts have been blocked, many of them belonging to revolutionary organizations, democratic groups, progressive media, etc. The following accounts are among those affected: “Umut Sen Ege, Kampüs Cadıları, Özgürlükçü Gençlik, Doğanın Çocukları, Laborans, Köz, Gençlik Komünleri, Öğrenci Faaliyeti, Öğrenci İnisiyatifi, Sol Genç Ankara ve Kocaeli, EHP Gençliği, ODTÜ Savunmaları, Özgür Üniversite Hareketi, Emek Gençliği İstanbul Üniversitesi, Kaldıraç, ODTÜ Medya Topluluğu, Konya Devrimci Gençlik Dernekleri, Sol Genç ODTÜ, ODTÜ HK, Özgür Boğaziçi, ESP, SGDF, Gençlik Komiteleri, Gençlik Devirecek, Yaşar Usta Portal, Artvin Halkevi, TÖP İstanbul, Ankara Halk Der, Emeğin Kurtuluşu, SODAP, Sosyalist Mücadele Birliğ, SMF, Sosyalistler Partisi, DEM Gençlik, Yeni Demokrasi, Genç Feminist Federasyonu, Galatasaray Üniversitesi Dayanışma Ağı, Eskişehir Emek ve Demokrasi Güçleri, İstanbul Üniversitesi – Beyazıt Hakkında, Sol Genç ODTÜ, Sol Genç Ankara, Boğaziçi Hakkında, Kırkyama Kadın Dayanışması, Kadın Savunma Ağı, Cenk Yiğiter, BSM, İzmir Halkevleri, Ekmek ve Gül, Sosyalist Kadın Meclisleri, Özgür Genç Kadın, EŞİK, Feminist Gündem, Latif Paşahan, Devrimci Öğrenci Birliği, Emre Orman.”
Yeni Demokrasi is among these media outlets, and once again, its X account has been blocked:
The democratic media outlet does not give up and has opened another account, and it will continue to report on the protests and stand with the people. We hereby share the new account:
