More Kurdish politicians arrested in Turkey

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Publisher, writer and activist Ragip Zarakolu arrested on November 2011.

Police raided the houses of many Kurdish politicians in Diyarbakir and Bitlis today. According to ANF, 21 people have been taken to custody. In the past 6 months alone, hundreds of Kurdish politicians, activists and journalists have been detained by Turkish police. Today’s arrests is a reminder of Turkey’s brutal and systematic discrimination against Kurdish people.

Turkey’s Aydinlik newspaper claims to have seen Turkish intelligence documents;

“According to reports, the members of the KCK amount to 15,000 of whom 4,000 have been arrested so far. And 7,500 more will be arrested as part of the detentions.”

Koma Civakên Kurdistan (KCK) which means Union of Communities in Kurdistan was founded by Abdullah Ocalan, many Kurdish politicians and journalists have been loosely associated to this organisation, and consequently arrested. Some of those arrested are part of the legal Pro-Kurdish political party BDP in Turkey, which the Turkish government has continuously attempted to delegitimise through arbitrary arrests of its MPs and supporters.

Among those arrests in the past by Turkey are Trade unionists and Human Rights activists. In 2009, 34 trade unionists were detained in İzmir, Ankara and Van. The continuous arbitrary arrests further fuel anger and frustration among Kurdish people, and has deterred dialogue on both sides.