67 detained over illegal demonstrations

The suspects were protesting about the relocation of the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, to a new smaller cell after new inmates were transferred to İmralı Prison last month. The suspects were caught in operations carried out by the İstanbul Police Department Intelligence Unit and police departments of various districts in İstanbul: Ataşehir, Bağcılar, Beyoğlu, Gaziosmanpaşa, Sultangazi and Ümraniye.

Officials from İstanbul Police Department said 40 people who had previously been caught were sent to an İstanbul courthouse and 12 of them were arrested while 27 of those caught, eight of whom are minors, were later referred to an İstanbul courthouse on allegations of membership in a terrorist organization.

In the operations, 10 Molotov cocktails, two guns, 20 cartridges and various equipment used in the production of Molotov cocktails as well as dozens of documents were seized.

As a result of the operations, seven planned Molotov cocktail incidents, including one attack targeting the office of a political party in Ataşehir, and two other illegal demonstrations were uncovered.

According to the indictment prepared by Diyarbakır Chief Prosecution Office, the Kurdish Democratic Confederation Turkey Council (KCK/TM), a splinter group of the terrorist PKK, was behind the children’s participation in illegal rallies. The indictment was accepted on Tuesday by Diyarbakır 6th Criminal Court, revealing that the KCK had played a big role in getting children and young people to attend the illegal demonstrations and assault security officers.

Sixty-seven people have been detained as part of operations into the KCK, the urban arm of the terrorist PKK. Security forces seized various weapons, explosives and ammunition during the raids.

According to the indictment, which reveals the details of the organizational structure and the functions of the outlawed PKK’s so called youth branch, the notorious group aimed to commit provocative actions in the southeastern provinces of Turkey to generate fear and anxiety within the society.

The PKK has been declared a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union. In the indictment, the KCK was held responsible for leading children and young people to participate in illegal rallies and demonstrations favoring the terrorist organization in Diyarbakır, and it underlined that the KCK selected young people loyal to the PKK to use in further actions.

Claiming that every demonstration organized by KCK was ordered by the PKK, the indictment states, “Children especially were encouraged to participate in the rallies and demonstrations.” The protests aimed to provide the chaotic atmosphere necessary to continue putting pressure on the people by showing the state’s security forces as helpless, notes the indictment which is supported by secret witness testimonies.

“It is observed that the participants of the protests who chanted slogans and attacked the security forces by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails were aged between 15 and 25. It is clear that they had been organized beforehand and attend the terrorist organization’s youth group and are directed and controlled by the senior members of the youth organization of PKK,” the statement said.

PKK’s goal: 50,000 members

The indictment, which includes some documents found in the computers of the suspects, claims that the terrorist PKK made great efforts to increase the number of its members and aiming to reach 50,000. In the KCK reports presented to PKK leaders, it is revealed that the KCK intensified its attempts to find new members not only within student groups but also in the neighborhoods of 32 different cities in Turkey.

An excerpt from one of the reports exemplifies how the KCK sent new members to PKK camps in northern Iraq. “The four people went to Silopi and met with İ.T who brought them to the truck park to meet the truck drivers. They got into Iraq after passing the Habur border gate hidden in secret compartments in the two trucks.”