Turkish bar association head released in Istanbul

ISTANBUL
A bar association president from the southeastern Diyarbakir province, who was detained for allegedly spreading PKK propaganda, was released on Tuesday.

Tahir Elci, who had been referred to court for arrest earlier on Tuesday, was released on the condition of an overseas travel ban, according to judicial sources.

On Monday, the Bakirkoy chief public prosecutor's office in Istanbul had issued a warrant to apprehend Tahir Elci after the latter referred to the PKK terrorist organization as an “armed political movement” with “serious support”.

He was taken into custody in Diyarbakir late on Monday and then was transferred to Istanbul on early Tuesday.

Elci is accused of "spreading terrorist propaganda" in his televised remarks to the 24-hour news channel CNN Turk on Oct. 14.

Tahir Elci, who went through a health check at Istanbul’s Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, gave a three-hour testimony before the Istanbul prosecutor Idris Kurt on Tuesday, according to security sources.

A group of 40 to 50 lawyers, including Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Levent Tuzel, was at the Istanbul courthouse in support of Elci.

Also in Ankara, another group of 40 to 45 lawyers protested Elci’s detention in front of the Ankara courthouse.

Speaking to the press on the behalf of the group, one of the lawyers in Ankara, Teoman Ozkan, said: “We reject the decision of a [lawyer's] detention […] because of his comments, in defiance of his rights which are guaranteed under the constitution, the law and international conventions.”

The PKK renewed its terrorist attacks against the Turkish state in late July. According to the government, more than 150 members of security forces have been martyred since then.

ISTANBUL
A bar association president from the southeastern Diyarbakir province, who was detained for allegedly spreading PKK propaganda, was released on Tuesday.

Tahir Elci, who had been referred to court for arrest earlier on Tuesday, was released on the condition of an overseas travel ban, according to judicial sources.

He was taken into custody in Diyarbakir late on Monday and then was transferred to Istanbul on early Tuesday.

Elci is accused of "spreading terrorist propaganda" in his televised remarks to the 24-hour news channel CNN Turk on Oct. 14.

A group of 40 to 50 lawyers, including Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Levent Tuzel, was at the Istanbul courthouse in support of Elci.

Also in Ankara, another group of 40 to 45 lawyers protested Elci’s detention in front of the Ankara courthouse.

The PKK renewed its terrorist attacks against the Turkish state in late July. According to the government, more than 150 members of security forces have been martyred since then.