ISTANBUL
Eleven of the 14 suspects detained during Monday's mass anti-terror raids in Istanbul’s Okmeydani district have been referred to court for arrest.
As part of the ongoing investigation into last week's Okmeydani killings during an illegal protest, a public prosecutor from Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s terror and organized crimes department interrogated 14 suspects at an Istanbul courthouse.
They were among 38 people taken into custody following an early morning police operation targeting people accused of being members of the leftist militant group Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front and participating in illegal demonstrations in Okmeydani on 22 May, which left two people dead and nine injured, eight of whom were police officers.
The prosecutor sent 11 of the suspects to the court for arrest on charges of "committing crime in the name of a terrorist organization" while ruling the release of the other three.
Scores of guns, explosives, Molotov cocktails and computer files were seized during Monday's operation in 18 different areas across Okmeydani, which involved riot police, special operations teams and coordinating by police helicopters.
A total of 26 people were alleged to be members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party’s youth structure, the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement, and another 12 of being members of leftist militant group DHKP/C.
Last week's protests in Okmeydani claimed the life of 30 year-old Ugur Kurt, who was attending a funeral procession in a cemevi, an Alevi prayer house, close to the protests when a stray bullet hit him in the head.
Ayhan Yilmaz, 42, also died from his injuries on May 23 after being wounded by a grenade during clashes between police and protestors.
The demonstrators were protesting against the recent coal mine tragedy in Soma, western Turkey, which claimed the lives of 301 miners, as well as the death of Istanbul teenager, Berkin Elvan, who died in March after spending 269 days in a coma following the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul.
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