HDP press agent, 15 terror suspects detained in Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

The coffin of PKK member Dilan Kortak being brought to the Dr. Lütfi Kırdar Hospital morgue on Dec. 4, 2015. Cihan Photo

A total of 16 suspects, including the press advisor of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ, have been detained in anti-terror operations against the outlawed Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) in seven Turkish provinces.

Ten of the 16 were detained in Istanbul early Dec. 4, while six others were detained in Ankara, the Aegean province of İzmir, the southern province of Adana, the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir, the western province of Denizli and the northwestern province of Balıkesir in Istanbul-based anti-terror pre-dawn raids. Among the detained in Istanbul was the HDP co-chair’s press agent, Ece Şimşek.

In a separate anti-terror operation in Istanbul, meanwhile, a suspected member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was killed in a police raid on a terrorist cell in Istanbul late  Dec. 3, which was conducted upon intelligence PKK members were readying for a suicide bomb attack.

The 19-year-old female PKK member, identified as Dilan Kortak, whose code name was “Gülçin,” was killed during clashes which erupted after members of the outlawed organization opened fire at police officers during the raid of the terrorist cell in Istanbul’s Sancaktepe district late Dec. 3. Three other PKK members were detained in the raid.

The raid was begun by Istanbul Police Department Counterterrorism Unit officers at around 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 3 after they were informed of a “suicide bombing act” by the intelligence unit of the police department. 

Comprehensive security measures were taken during the raid in and around Dumanlar Street in Sancaktepe’s Atatürk neighborhood, where the terrorist cell was located.

Three pistols with cartridges, a large amount of ammunition, laptops and documents related to the outlawed organization were seized during the raid, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.