Istanbul – An Istanbul court has put 14 lawyers under arrest on suspicion of being members of an “armed terrorist organisation,” the state-run Anadolu news agency reported on Thursday.
The 14 were among 16 lawyers detained last week over alleged links to the leftist Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party (DHKP-C), Anadolu said.
Two of the lawyers were released under judicial control.
Turkey lists the DHKP-C as a terrorist group.
The government-critical Cumhuriyet daily reported separately on Thursday that all 16 had worked for the law office that handled the cases of two hunger-striking teachers.
Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca started hunger strike in Ankara in March to protest the loss of their jobs after Turkey sacked a raft of public-sector workers following a failed coup in July 2016.
Both teachers were formally arrested in May on suspicion of being “members of an armed terrorist organisation.” Gulmen is a university lecturer, and Ozakca is a primary school teacher.
Numerous lawyers are currently behind bars. However, an exact number is not known, according to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. (dpa/NAN)