Accusation of sedition: Turkish justice takes action against military offensive critics

On Wednesday Turkey started its long-threatened offensive in northern Syria. The attack on the Kurdish-controlled area triggered international criticism. Critical votes in one's own country have already been targeted by the Turkish judiciary shortly after the start of the military operation.

Within a few hours, dozens of opponents launched an offensive investigation. The government-critical newspaper Birgün said that the head of its website, Hakan Demir, had been arrested this morning. The police had earlier reported that they had initiated investigations against 78 Internet users on suspicion of "terrorist propaganda" in social media.

According to "Birgün" Demir is accused of "sedition". His arrest may well be related to an article on their website, the newspaper said. She had been sharply criticized on the Internet for writing an article about civilian victims of the offensive.

Investigations against HDP leaders

The Turkish army emphasizes that it is taking all measures to protect civilians and acting exclusively against the "terrorists" of the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG). But according to activists, 15 people were killed in the first hours of the offensive. Among the eight civilian casualties were two children.

The aim of the offensive is the Kurdish militia YPG, which controls a large area on the Syrian side of the border. Turkey sees in it an offshoot of the banned Kurdish workers' party PKK in Turkey and thus a terrorist organization. It wants to set up a so-called security zone along the border and to settle there Syrian refugees who currently live in Turkey.

Turkey intervened in northern Syria in 2016 and 2018 to push the Syrian Kurdish militia back from the border. Even then, hundreds of critics of the operation were arrested in Turkey. The Ankara district attorney's office said that it had launched an investigation into the two presidents of the pro-democracy Democratic Party of Peoples (HDP), Sezai Temelli and Pervin Buldan, for their comments on the operation.