Police arrest 34 PKK terror suspects in Turkey

By Zekeriya Gunes, Hasan Namli and Hakan Can Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Police arrested 34 suspects from three provinces as part of an ongoing operation against the terrorist PKK organization on Tuesday, according to a police source.

A counter-terrorism police operation in southern Mersin province led to the arrests of 24 suspects, police said in a written statement.

The suspects face several charges, including “seeking members in the name of a terror organization” and “organizing provocative protests on streets” linked to the PKK terror group, police said.

Some regional leaders of opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) from Mersin’s provincial and district level were among those arrested, the statement added.

Separately, some six suspects were arrested in western Manisa province for allegedly making propaganda for the PKK terror group on social media, according to provincial police’s anti-terror branch.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office in southeastern Diyarbakir province on Tuesday said in a statement that four PKK terror suspects had been arrested during raids at a shelter in Lice district between Sunday and Monday.

Security forces also seized bomb-making material, including around 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) of ammonium nitrate, the statement added.

Following a fragile peace deal, the PKK resumed its armed campaign in July 2015. Since then, more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians have lost their lives.