UPDATE - Security forces nab 15 suspected YPG/PKK terrorists

UPDATES WITH MERSIN OPERATION; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, INTRO; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Selahattin Ozbozkurt and Lale Koklu Karagoz

HATAY/MERSIN, Turkey (AA) - At least 15 people with suspected links to the YPG/PKK terror group were arrested in southern Turkey, authorities and sources said on Tuesday.

In Hatay province, an alleged YPG/PKK terrorist planning attacks in northern Syria was arrested along with three accomplices, according to the provincial governor's office.

The terrorist was apprehended by gendarmerie teams in an operation in Dortyol district while preparing for bomb attacks on the Turkish Armed Forces, local Syrian allies, and civilians in the Operation Olive Branch zone in northern Syria, the authority said.

Operation Olive Branch, started in 2018, is among a trio of successful anti-terror operations Turkey has launched across its border in northern Syria since 2016 to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and to enable the peaceful settlement of residents.

The other two operations are Euphrates Shield (2016) and Peace Spring (2019).

All four suspects were arrested on charges of being members of a terrorist organization, the governor’s office said.

Six mobile phones, 13 SIM cards, 10 memory cards, five external hard drives, and seven hard disks were also seized in the operation, it added.

In Mersin province, 11 suspects involved in propaganda activities for the YPG/PKK terror group were arrested in an operation in the district of Tarsus, according to a security source.

The suspects were presented in court and released with orders not to leave the country, said the source, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

* Writing by Havva Kara Aydin