DTP party chairman also detained in raids

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

The Doğan news agency said 21 people were detained in operations carried out in the western province of İzmir, accused of arson as well as several bomb attacks.

Police conducted a search of the DTP bureau in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district and also looked for individuals who were believed to have information on a number of wanted suspects.

DTP Provincial Chairman Halil Aksoy was also detained after making a statement condemning the investigation. "If you block politics conducted democratically, how can you stop the process of going to the mountains to fight?" he asked. The state-run Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, or TRT, reported that eight people were detained in Ankara.

In the southeastern province of Batman, 15 people, including eight members of the DTP, were taken into custody, Doğan news agency reported.

Friday's raids are part of an operation launched earlier in the week, when dozens were detained, the agencies reported. Police launched a wide-sweeping operation earlier in the week to crack down on organizations with alleged links to the PKK. More than 40 people, including DTP officials, were detained. The operation, believed to be one year in planning, aimed to expose those with links to the PKK inside the DTP and Kurdish nongovernmental organizations. The Constitutional Court is currently deliberating on a case for the closure of the DTP over alleged links to the PKK.