Information note: Police operation against HDP advisors

Information note by our vice Co-Chair Mr. Hişyar Özsoy:

The scope of the operation against HDP has further widened to include our Parliamentary advisors. Early this morning special operations police forces raided the homes of six of our advisors and detained five: Zülküf Kurt, Murat Gökdağ, Olcay Çelik, Muhammed Kaya, Metin Kümek.

They have been banned from access to legal counsel for five days and a restriction has been imposed on their files.

This, coming after the arrest of 10 HDP MPs including our co-chairs is further manifestation of the Erdoğan-AKP aim to obstruct our party's political work at all levels and by all means.

The manner in which these detentions have been carried out, as well, should be cause for concern for all uphold democratic rights and freedoms and believe in the need for democratic politics.

Our advisors’ addresses have been raided in the very early hours of morning. There being no one at two of the addresses the police broke the doors and conducted illegal searches in the absence of lawyers and our advisors. In the home of Olcay Çelik, the advisor to our Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ, the policemen kept uttering sexist obscenities and profanities targeting Ms Yüksekdağ. 

We would like to underline that we find the state of personal engagement and personal hostility displayed by members of the police force against our party, our members and executives particularly alarming.


Hişyar Özsoy
HDP Deputy Co-chair Responsible for Foreign Affairs
November 11, 2016