Turkey detains leftist activists after ‘No’ protests – lawyer

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Istanbul police on Wednesday detain 16 leftist activists involved in demonstrations against the “Yes” victory in the referendum on expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s powers, a laywer says.

There have been daily street protests in anti-Erdogan neighborhoods in Istanbul since Sunday’s referendum, which the opposition claims was marred by blatant vote rigging.

The Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP), a left-wing movement not represented in parliament, says police detained its Istanbul chairman Mesut Gecgel on accusations of “agitating the public” by claiming the “Yes” vote was illegitimate.

Gecgel had himself written on Twitter that he was being detained for protesting against the “Yes” victory.

Gecgel’s lawyer Deniz Demirdogen tells AFP that anti-terror police raided houses of the suspects before dawn, saying 16 people are detained so far but arrest warrants are issued for a total of 38 people.

Describing the accusations as “strange,” he adds: “They are accused of provoking people to question the legitimacy of the ‘Yes’ in the referendum. But there’s no such crime definition in the penal code.”

— AFP