90 suspects detained over PKK links across Turkey
ANKARA - Anadolu Agency
Security forces detained 90 suspects over their links to the illegal PKK and KCK across Turkey during simultaneous operations carried out late on Oct. 8, the Interior Ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said 80 detentions were made in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Others took place in Istanbul, southern province of Mersin, and the southeastern provinces of Van, Şırnak, Şanlıurfa, Batman and Mardin.
Many documents related to the group and digital material were also seized during the operations.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
Separately, security forces detained at least 23 suspects also on Oct. 8, including 18 active-duty soldiers, over alleged links to FETÖ, the group believed to have been behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.
In an operation based in Van province in eastern Turkey, counter-terrorism police conducted raids nationwide, in the provinces of Afyonkarahisar, Trabzon, Mardin, Istanbul, Giresun, Amasya, Burdur, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, Karabük, Konya, Isparta, and İzmir to apprehend the active-duty soldiers, according to a statement by the provincial security directorate.
Meanwhile, in another operation, five suspects were detained for allegedly using ByLock, an encrypted smartphone app allegedly used by FETÖ members.
Counter-terrorism police carried out raids in the Karabük-based operation in Istanbul, Kocaeli, Gaziantep, Aydın, and Yozgat.
FETÖ and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gülen are widely believed to have orchestrated the defeated coup on July 15, 2016, which left 251 people dead and nearly 2,200 injured.
Ankara also accuses FETÖ of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.
