AMED, Kurdistan Capital, — Selahedin Demirtash the co-chair of Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) harshly criticised today’s raid of the office of lawyers of Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish national leader who has been held in solitary confinement in Imrali Prison for the last 12 years.
Turkish police raided the office of Ocalan lawyers today in Istanbul arresting around 100 people, 48 of whom are lawyers.
Demirtash said the operation was an “apparent murdering of law” and called on the Kurdish people not to remain silent against this operation which will fail in making the Kurds step back.
Demirtash said that “These operations are the AKP’s final struggle. AKP is arresting innocent, unarmed people in a frantic way. The current situation in Turkey is actually much worse than Syria and Egypt where people are rising”.
“The prime minister warned Al-Assad that he can’t stay in power with tanks and guns while he himself is doing the same. His warnings to Assad are true for him as well. From a political point of view, the AKP is bringing itself to a dead end with these operations,” added Demirtash.
It is notable that the operations against lawyers came after a statement Erdogan made last month saying that “Lawyers of Ocalan are affiliated to Asrın Law Office which always alternates its lawyers. Lawyers visiting Imrali are in some way providing a contact between Qendil and Imrali. It is in order to break this link that meetings in Imrali are not granted.”
In the meantime, simultaneous police operations and searches continue in 16 cities. The number of detainees, including journalists, is reported to be around 100 so far. Searches in Asrın Law Office and central offices of Ozgur Gundem paper and Demokratik Modernite magazine are reported to continue.