DTP’s Van Branch Goes To Court For The Police Raid

The Democratic Society Party is getting ready to take the arbitrary police raid to its Van branch office to the court. Recently there has been an increase in attacks to the DTP offices.

Bawer Çakır

Van branch of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) is getting ready to file a criminal complaint for the arbitrary raid done to its building with about one hundred police officers.

Mehmet Selim Ertaş, acting president of the Van DTP branch, told bianet that the reasons for the raid last week were still not conveyed to them.

Ertaş says that they seized one photograph and four posters during the raid, but the news that appeared in daily Radikal about the apprehension of the ten people was simply not true.

According to Ertaş, this raid is part of the plan to suppress the democratic institutions in the area right before the local elections.

“We think that the arbitrary moves like this one are done to demoralize us. The goal is to create demoralization and form psychological domination. This raid is the extension of the developments in Van after the Newroz celebration.

Ercan Kanar, a lawyer in Istanbul Bar, too, backed this claim by stating that raids without warning are unlawful.

Bomb attack to the Zeytinburnu DTP branch office

In the meantime, last night at ten o’clock a bombed attack was staged at the Zeytinburnu branch office in Istanbul. There was damage to the building because of the fire caused by the sound bomb, but no losses or injuries.

DTP Istanbul deputy Sebahat Tuncel and Diyarbakır deputy Aysel Tuğluk visited the branch office to show their solidarity with the victimized party members.

Tuncel said, “There has been an increase in attacks against the DTP and none of the perpetrators have been caught” and she also emphasized that this encouraged the perpetrators more.

Except for the attack to the Eminönü branch in Istanbul, none of the perpetrators for any of the attacks to the DTP offices have been caught.(BÇ/EÜ/TB)