Turkish revolutionary democrats fabricated as members of terrorist organization

By Harsh Thakor*
Many people were illegally detained in house raids in Izmir and Istanbul in the morning on the 27th of February. Some people are reported to have faced torture by the police while being interrogated.
The detained were denied access to lawyers. The accused were framed with charges of “Providing finance to a terrorist organization”.
Partizan reader İbrahim Hakkı Eren was among the detained. During the raid special police officers deployed violence against the people in his house. Written materials such as newspapers and books were confiscated.
The house of members of the music group İsyan Ateşi (Fire of Rebellion) was also raided. The police broke through the door of the house and confiscated several books.
Also the DİSK members, Tijda Kılıç, Şerife Alpözü and Mahir Kılıç, were detained.
There were also house raids unleashed against members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) and the Federation of Socialist Assemblies (SMF). Several members of the ESP and SMF were detained.
The he detention period of the detained in Istanbul has been extended for one more day.

Arrests and Protests

3 of the 15 people who were detained in the house raids in Izmir and Istanbul on the 27th of February have been arrested. Among the arrested is Partizan reader Arzu Aksakal. One of the detained was released under house arrest, while the rest were released.
The revolutionary democrats are fabricated of “membership of a terrorist organization” as well as “financing a terror organization”, based on the convicted having transferred money to people, such as their family members, which the old State claim are terrorists.

There have been protests against the detentions in Switzerland and England.
On the 29th of February a protest was held in London to demand the release of those who were detained under torture when their homes were raided. Many people attended the demonstration which was organized by several Turkish and Kurdish organizations. Slogans such as Stop Fascist Attacks in Turkey”, “Down with Fascism” and “Freedom for Political Prisoners” were frequently chanted throughout the protest.
Also on the 29th of February a protest was held in Zurich, Switzerland protesting the injustice of detentions. The protesters had banners raising the slogans “Repressions, Detentions and Arrests Cannot Intimidate Us”, “Shoulder to Shoulder against Fascism”, “Release the Detainees” and “Fascism’s Detention Attacks Cannot Obstruct Our Struggle”.
On the 1st of March a solidarity action was held in Basel, Switzerland, under the banner “Do you know that the Turkish State kills political prisoners?”. Slogans such as “Revolutionary Prisoners are Our Honor” and “Freedom for Political Prisoners” were shouted in German and Turkish.
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*Freelance journalist

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