Police in İzmir detained 26 lawyers and one journalist during a protest on Thursday over the removal of recently elected Kurdish mayors from office, the Mezopotamya news agency reported.
The demonstration, held by members of the Jurists for Freedom Association (ÖHD) and the Progressive Lawyers Association after the Interior Ministry ousted three Kurdish mayors in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır, Van, and Mardin, was blockaded and violently dispersed by the police, who said they would not allow it to proceed due to a 10-day protest ban imposed by the İzmir Governor’s Office.
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Erol Katırcıoğlu was forcibly separated from the protesters, while journalists who were at the scene to report on the protest were allegedly insulted and one was detained.