UPDATES WITH MORE ARRESTS IN ISTANBUL, GAZIANTEP; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE
By Yusuf Tunur, Gokhan Yilmaz, Eren Bozkurt, Orhan Onur Gemici, and Cankut Tasdan
ISTANBUL/ADANA/ANKARA, Turkey (AA) – Turkish security forces arrested 105 suspects with alleged links to the PKK terror group, security sources said on Saturday.
Police conducted simultaneous raids at 28 locations in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul and the southeastern Diyarbakir province as part of an investigation launched by the chief public prosecutor's office in Istanbul, said a source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
A total of 24 suspects have been arrested in the operation so far, it added.
In the southern Adana province, prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 30 suspects as part of a probe against the terror group, said another source, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
At least 25 suspects found to be involved in terror activities and propagating terrorism were arrested in multiple raids.
Operations are ongoing to apprehend the remaining suspects, the source added.
Also, in a separate operation, police teams raided houses in the Ceyhan district of Adana and arrested five suspects who were found to be propagating PKK-related terrorism.
In the capital Ankara, warrants were issued for 10 Syrian nationals actively working for the PKK terror group, according to the chief public prosecutor’s office.
The individuals were found to have previously served as couriers and collaborators for the terror group’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG.
Nine suspects were arrested in an operation, in which many organizational documents and digital materials were also seized.
The successful intelligence operation unearthed a network of couriers and collaborators and thwarted the terror group’s attempt to recruit more Syrian refugees in Turkey for the network, the prosecutor’s office said.
In another operation based in Gaziantep and conducted in five other provinces, 42 suspects were arrested as part of a probe against the PKK terror group.
The arrests came after the prosecutors in Gaziantep issued warrants for 49 suspects, including political party members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) .
Turkey's government accuses HDP of having links to the PKK terrorist organization. The DBP is its sister organization.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
*Basak Akbulut Yazar, Halil Demir in Istanbul, Adsiz Gunebakan in Gaziantep contributed to this story
