Istanbul- Yesterday (June 12), police prevented the people participating in the march to the Gemlik district of Bursa province from Istanbul with the motto, “We are marching to Gemlik to defend freedom against the isolation policy”. The people gathered in Kadıköy were attacked by police and more than 70 marchers were detained.

The detained people were reportedly taken to the Istanbul Security Directorate in Vatan Street. Lawyers, who went to the directorate to see their clients, weren’t allowed to enter the directorate.

The names of some detained people are:

Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) Co-spokesperson Esengül Demir, Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) Co-chair Özlem Gümüştaş, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Istanbul provincial Co-chairs İlknur Birol and Ferhat Encü, Socialist Refoundation Party (SYKP) Istanbul provincial Co-chair Roni Gören, Revolutionary Party Co-Chair Burcugül Çubuk, United Fighting Forces (Birleşik Mücadele Güçleri, BMG) Co-spokesperson Mürüvvet Küçük, Nezir Altıntaş, Elif Bulut, Pınar Türk, Erhan Bayrak, Halis Bingöl, Elif Yıldız, Evren Talu, Mehmet Masyan, Aslan Demir, Deniz Aktaş, Aygül Sincar, Sedat Şenoğlu, Ezgi Gürbüz, İsmail Temel, Koray Türkay, Birgül İrin, Aydın Koçuk, Eylem Çelik, Rıdvan Karataş, Ali İpekli, Ünal Yusufoğlu, Ali Emre Ecer, Esra Üşüdür, Suavi Bayrak, Beyza Karayel,  Remzi Akbulut, Sinem Yıldırım, Demet Gülüş, Ferhat Yıldırım, Ali Menteşağu, Mehmet Nuri Candan, Songül Alagöz, Ensar Açık, Salih Öner, Mesut Tağu, Mehmet Çelebi, Nevzat Yeziz, Hilal Başak, Hacer Yaşar, Gülden Doğan, Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar, Hayrettin Baydar and Orhan Uzuner.

Bursa

Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reporter Ergin Çağlar and JINNEWS reporter Rozerin Gültekin were taken into custody while covering the Gemlik March held in Bursa yesterday demanding physical freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in the Imralı prison under aggravated isolation for 23 years. The journalists were taken to the Bursa Police Department and then released at night.