Turkish publisher Zarakolu appears in court

PanARMENIAN.Net - Publisher and human rights activist Ragıp Zarakolu and constitutional law professor Büşra Ersanlı were referred to a court to testify to a prosecutor following their detention during an operation against the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella group that encompasses the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliated organizations, Today's Zaman reported.

They were taken to the Beşiktaş Courthouse on Monday, October 31, along with 48 others who were detained on Friday by counterterrorism units of the Istanbul Police Department.

Ersanlı, a member of the Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) Party Council and Constitution Commission, and Belge Publishing House representative Zarakolu were to be interrogated by a prosecutor following a medical examination at the courthouse.

The KCK is being accused of attempting to establish an alternative state mechanism and terrorizing locals in the country’s predominantly Kurdish areas. Most of the accused face charges of membership of and/or aiding and abetting a terrorist group. The investigation into its activities is being conducted by Istanbul Public Prosecutor Adnan Çimen.

The accusations leveled against Zarakolu and Ersanlı were still unclear as of Monday.

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Confederation of Pubic Sector Trade Unions (KESK) held a joint protest against the detentions. A group of about 40 people, members and representatives of the CHP and KESK, gathered in front of the Beşiktaş Courthouse. CHP Istanbul branch President Oğuz Kaan Salıcı also joined the protest.

The group unfurled banners reading, “Enough is enough,” and chanted anti-government slogans.