GUNSHOTS were fired during a raid on a Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) official’s home in Turkey’s eastern Van province today as more than 70 were detained in operations across the country.

Police in ski masks stormed the home of of Omer Isik and opened fire before detaining him. Nobody was reported to have been injured in the raid, one of many across 11 Turkish provinces.  

Mesopotamia Agency editor Dicle Muftuoglu was among scores of journalists and politicians detained in the police operations, part of a brutal state crackdown. 

She was held after security services stormed her home in the largely Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.

Simultaneous raids targeted HDP officials and the headquarters of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) in Istanbul.

The raids are the latest in a series of operations against opposition figures and journalists.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces a general election next year with many analysts suggesting his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) may lose its grip on power. 

Despite high approval ratings, he faces trouble on the domestic front. 

A deep economic crisis has seen large protests against the government as living standards continue to deteriorate for the majority of the population.

This has led to an intensified crackdown on dissent as Mr Erdogan seeks to neutralise opposition. 

Last week the AKP submitted a motion to parliament to criminalise “disseminating information to misguide the public” which the HDP warned will “destroy the remaining bits of press freedom.”

Dicle Firat Journalists Association co-chair Serdar Altan told the Morning Star that the regulations would see more journalists targeted, with the state effectively banning freedom of speech. 

“Every day in this region journalists are detained or prevented from doing journalism … there are investigations and lawsuits against hundreds of journalists who are punished for making the news, for sharing their thoughts,” he said. 

He said the detention of Ms Mufutoglu was a continuation of this oppressive climate, describing the raids as “unlawful.”

Mr Altan called on journalists and press freedom groups to show solidarity and speak out against the “fascism” of the Turkish government. 

Jin News spokeswoman Gulsen Kocak agreed, adding that Ms Mufutoglu was detained simply for opposing the government narrative on unknown charges. 

“The process we have experienced so far has shown that not individual struggle, but joint struggle will win,” she said.

The HDP has faced severe repression since it was formed in 2012. Attacks on the party escalated after it secured 80 seats in 2015 in Turkey’s single-chamber parliament, the grand assembly, ending the parliamentary majority of the AKP.

Around 20,000 HDP members have been detained since 2016,10,000 of whom were jailed, including more than 200 elected officials and MPs.

A court case could see more than 100 leading officials jailed while a separate hearing could see the HDP shut down entirely.

Despite the onslaught the party has seen a slight boost in the polls, with just over 14 per cent saying they will vote for the HDP in the election.