Three French nationals detained in Turkey’s Şırnak over PKK links released
DİYARBAKIR
Turkish authorities on July 12 released three French nationals after they were briefly detained in Turkey’s southeast over alleged ties to outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, a judicial source told AFP.
Security forces had earlier detained 16 suspects in an operation launched in the Beytüşşebap district of Şırnak province bordering Iraq to capture supporters of the PKK and its urban wing the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the source said.
There were no further details on the identity of the freed foreign citizens.
Security sources told state-run Anadolu Agency on July 12 that the gendarmerie raid in Şırnak’s Kovankaya village “aimed to detain couriers and collaborators” of the PKK.
The report added that the suspects, including a French woman, were sent to the gendarmerie center for detention procedures, without elaborating on the charges.
The PKK is designated as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies including the United States and the European Union.
