Six arrested in Turkey for alleged links to Hopa clashes

ISTANBUL – Daily News with wires

Six people taken into custody after last week’s clashes in the northwestern town of Hopa were arrested early Sunday on charges of resisting security officers and damaging public property. Ten other suspects were released by the court.

Clashes broke out between police and protesters Tuesday in Hopa before Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a rally in the town, which borders Georgia. A 54-year-old retired teacher, Metin Lokumcu, died from a heart attack during the clashes because of the intense tear-gas bombs used by police, according to the initial autopsy report.

A prosecutor charged 16 suspects, who have been in custody since Wednesday, with being members of an outlawed organization. A court with special authority, which specializes in organized crime and terror cases, in the eastern city of Erzurum downgraded the charges to resisting police and damaging property, the Doğan news agency, or DHA, reported.

The main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, has said it will prepare a report on the incidents in Hopa.

The CHP’s İzmir deputy Ahmet Ersin, who is also a member of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee, and Artvin deputy Metin Arifağaoğlu arrived in Hopa on Sunday to talk to residents and local officials.

Ersin said the clashes in Hopa have become a nationwide problem and the main opposition party will prepare a report on the orders of CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. “The police have negatively contributed to the incident in Hopa as they always act violent in protests against Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdoğan,” he said.

via Six arrested in Turkey for alleged links to Hopa clashes – Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.