Turkish police extend anti-terror operations, new wave nets dozens

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Police conducted simultaneous raids and searches at various locations in five provinces, news agencies reported.

In Istanbul, police searched the bureau of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, in the central district of Beyoglu and detained the head of the bureau, Halil Aksoy.

Aksoy condemned the investigation. "If you block politics conducted democratically, how can you stop the process of going into the mountains to fight?" he was quoted as saying to reporters by the state-run Anatolian Agency.

Private Dogan News Agency (DHA) and Anatolian reported 27 people were taken into custody in the western province of Izmir, accused of arson, as well as several bomb attacks.

Turkish police launched a wide-sweeping operation earlier in the week to crack down on organizations with alleged links to the terror organization PKK. More than 40 people, including DTP officials, were detained.

Accused of supporting PKK

In the southern province of Antalya, another 14 people, including six members of the DTP, were detained under the operation. DHA said the detainees were accused of chanting slogans in support of the PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan during the Nevruz celebrations in March.

Ten people were also taken into custody in the southeastern province of Bitlis on similar charges, Anatolian also reported.

Earlier on Friday state television 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, DHA added. Friday's raids are part of an operation launched earlier in the week in which dozens were detained, the agencies said.

The operation, one year in the planning, aims to expose those with links to the terror organization PKK inside the DTP and in Kurdish non-governmental organizations.

The constitutional court is currently deliberating a case demanding the closure of the DTP over its alleged links to the terror organization PKK, which launches cross-border attacks against Turkey from bases in northern Iraq. The party has 21 legislators in Turkey’s 550-seat parliament.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, including the EU and the United States.