Turkish police detain 23 left-wing activists in İzmir, raid offices in İstanbul

Turkish police detained 23 members of left-wing groups in the western city of İzmir on Monday as part of two terrorism-related investigations and carried out additional raids in İstanbul, the Evrensel newspaper reported.

The detainees included members of several socialist and student organizations, among them the Socialist Struggle Initiative (SMİ), the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF), the Struggle Unity Platform and the Student Collectives.

The raids were conducted by counterterrorism police as part of two separate investigations. One concerned allegations of spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization through participation in a gathering commemorating left-wing revolutionary İbrahim Kaypakkaya, while the other involved allegations of membership in a terrorist organization.

The reports did not specify how many detainees were implicated in each investigation or identify the organizations they were accused of supporting or belonging to.

In the membership investigation, police also raided homes belonging to members of the Struggle Unity Platform and the Revolutionary Student Union in İstanbul. Offices belonging to the Ayışığı Ekin Arts Association and Yeni Dönem Publishing were searched.

Several people were reportedly detained in İstanbul and were expected to be transferred to İzmir for questioning. The exact number had not been confirmed.

The 23 detainees in İzmir were being held at the provincial police headquarters. Lawyers were unable to obtain information about the evidence underlying the organization membership allegations because access to the investigation file had been restricted by a confidentiality order.

Among those detained in İzmir was graphic designer Mahir Akkoyun, known online as Mahirgra, who previously attracted attention for designing stickers criticizing rising prices and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s economic policies.

Other detainees included SMİ members Helin Duyğu, Şilan Duyğu and Enes Osanmaz and SGDF member Beliz Karapınar.In a statement on X, SMİ condemned the detentions as political repression, said it would not be intimidated by police operations and demanded the immediate release of its members.

Kaypakkaya, whose commemoration was cited as grounds for some of the detentions, was a revolutionary communist who founded the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML). He died in military custody in 1973. His death has been commemorated by left-wing organizations in Turkey for decades.

In the northern province of Zonguldak, police also detained two members of a revolutionary youth organization in raids on Monday, the Karar newspaper reported. It was not immediately clear whether those detentions were connected to either investigation in İzmir.

Separately, police detained Münir Korkmaz, a member of the executive board of the left-wing Green Left Party and a spokesperson for a platform representing public employees dismissed under emergency decrees, during a raid on his home in the southern city of Adana, the Bianet news website reported.

Korkmaz was taken to the Adana provincial police headquarters as part of an investigation led by prosecutors in the neighboring province of Osmaniye. Authorities had not disclosed the allegations against him.

Korkmaz has advocated for the reinstatement of public employees dismissed under emergency decrees issued after a failed coup in July 2016. More than 130,000 public servants were dismissed during the subsequent state of emergency, many over alleged links to organizations designated as terrorist groups by the Turkish government.

The raids come amid continuing concerns over the use of counterterrorism legislation against political activists and opposition groups in Turkey.

In September, Turkish police detained 39 people, including the co-chair of a socialist political party, in operations across 11 provinces targeting alleged links to outlawed far-left organizations. Opposition parties and left-wing groups condemned those detentions, accusing authorities of criminalizing lawful political activity.