At least 110 people were arrested Tuesday in Turkey in an operation that falls within the framework of "fighting terrorism" and targets the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a police source told AFP.
The operation, which came three weeks before crucial elections in Turkey, was carried out in 21 provinces, including the Kurdish-majority Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey.
"The total number of arrests may reach 150," the Diyarbakir Bar Association said, including "twenty lawyers, five journalists, three theater actors and a politician."
The syndicate stated that the lawyers were prevented from communicating with their clients for 24 hours.
The non-governmental organization MLSA for the Defense of Freedoms stated that "the homes of many people, including journalists, lawyers and officials of non-governmental organizations, were searched in the early hours of the morning."
Presidential and legislative elections will be held on May 14 in Turkey, and will decide whether or not President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party will remain in power.
The opposition is running in the elections as a united front of six parties that chose one candidate for the presidency, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, backed by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).
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100’s arrested in Turkey on terror charges