03.02.2026 12:20
The DEM Party reacted to the detention of ESP co-chair Murat Çepni, DEM Party PM member Emin Orhan, and other party members during operations conducted in 22 provinces centered in Istanbul. In a statement, the DEM Party said, "This policy of repression carried out by the government against socialists and opposition through judicial means is unacceptable."
This morning (February 3), following the home raids, it was reported that many people were detained in the police operation targeting the Oppressed People's Socialist Party (ESP), the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF), the Socialist Women's Assemblies (SKM), the Limter-İş Union affiliated with DİSK, the Active News Agency (ETHA), Polen Ecology, BEKSAV, and various other institutions. The DEM Party reacted to the operations.
"REPRESSION POLICY IS UNACCEPTABLE"
In a written statement from the DEM Party, the following was stated:
"This morning, many employees of various institutions, including our component party ESP, SKM, DİSK/LİMTER-İŞ, and BEKSAV, were detained as a result of police raids. Among those detained are ESP Co-Chair Murat Çepni and our PM member Emin Orhan, as well as journalists, ecologists, and unionists.
This repression policy carried out by the government against socialists and dissenters through judicial means is unacceptable. Those detained must be released immediately. These pressures against those expressing their democratic reactions, including our citizens who have been detained and arrested recently for protesting the attacks on Rojava, must come to an end."
HATIMOĞULLARI: THEY MUST BE RELEASED IMMEDIATELY
DEM Party Co-Chair Tülay Hatimoğulları stated in a social media post regarding the issue, "These detentions targeting our component party ESP are a clear part of the government's repression policy against socialists and dissenters. We will never accept this. ESP Co-Chair Murat Çepni, our PM member Emin Orhan, and our detained friends must be released immediately," she said.
OPERATIONS CONDUCTED IN 22 PROVINCES
Many people were detained in the police operation targeting ESP, the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF), the Socialist Women's Assemblies (SKM), the Limter-İş Union affiliated with DİSK, the Active News Agency (ETHA), Polen Ecology, BEKSAV, and various other institutions.
It was learned that there is a detention order for 96 people. The Istanbul-centered operation was carried out in Antalya, Adıyaman, Urfa, Rize, Bursa, Van, Tekirdağ, Antep, Samsun, Dersim, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Kocaeli, Yalova, Balıkesir, Denizli, Ankara, İzmir, Sakarya, Adana, and Mersin.
Turkey's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 96 people were captured in operations against the "MLKP armed organization" in 22 provinces centered in Istanbul.
So far, the names of those detained are as follows:
ESP Co-Chair Murat Çepni, Fatoş Çelik, Hacer Elçin, Okan Danacı, Journalist Pınar Gayıp, Journalist Züleyha Müldür, Hasan Polat, Journalist Müslüm Koyun, Emre Altan, Cemil Aksu, Hasan Hüseyin Yeşilova, Ahmet Bilal Bay, Tanya Kara, Hivda Selen, Özlem Gümüştaş, Meral Tatar, Uğur Ok, Emrah Topaloğlu, Ruşa Sabur, Hıdır Sabur, Yalçın Demir, Kanber Saygılı, Fatma Saygılı, Ali Haydar Saygılı, Aynur Ergül, Satiye Ok, Berfin Polat, İleri Devrim Yurtsever, Beycan Taşkıran, Ramazan Karakaya, Aydın Kılıçdere, Hacı Çiçek, Mehmet Acettin, Emin Orhan, Şahin Tümüklü, Hatice Endam Özaslan, Esvet Şahin, Hüseyin Acer, Ayşe Yılmaz, Dilan Ergül.
STATEMENT FROM THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office made a statement regarding the operation:
'Our Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, in collaboration with the Istanbul Police Department's Anti-Terror Branch, is conducting an investigation into the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) terrorist organization and its members and activities;
In accordance with the effective remorse provisions, statements from some organization members regarding organizational activities and members, findings from digital materials seized and examined in previous operations against the terrorist organization, and determinations made on the Google Meet program involving individuals in the organization's Central Committee, as well as reports obtained from MASAK and HTS, indicate that the terrorist organization is active in the structures named SGDF (Federation of Socialist Youth Associations), SKM (Socialist Women's Assembly), KAKTÜS GENÇ KADIN DERNEĞİ, KGÖ (Communist Youth Organization), KKÖ (Communist Women's Organization), ETHA (Active News Agency), LÖB (High School Student Union), BEKSAV (Foundation for Science, Education, Aesthetics, Culture, and Art), and EHB (Law Office of the Oppressed). A simultaneous operation is to be carried out today against 10 suspects identified as being involved in these structures, with orders for arrest, detention, and searches of their residences and workplaces, as well as the seizure of any potential evidence, based on the decision obtained from the Peace Criminal Court.'