By Meltem Yilmaz
TRABZON, Turkey (AA) – Over 2,600 people have been remanded in custody to await trial on PKK-related offences, Turkey’s interior minister said on Friday.
Speaking at an address in the northeastern province of Trabzon, Suleyman Soylu said police had carried out nonstop operations against the PKK’s urban networks and political extensions.
Almost 14,700 people had been arrested over the last six months, he said. Over 2,600 of these had been remanded to await trial.
Soylu said this “proactive” fight against the PKK had resulted in fewer people joining the group — which is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU.
In his remarks, Soylu said 962 PKK terrorists had been neutralized in the last six months.
Elsewhere in Turkey, the country’s security forces said they had killed three PKK terrorists in the southeastern province of Sirnak.
The Turkish General Staff said on Friday the deaths took place during a counterterrorism operation in the Cudi mountain region.
Illegal weapons, ammunition and explosives were seized during the operation.
More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.
