47 suspects detained in anti-terror ops in east, SE

By Necat Hazar, Yilmaz Kazandioglu, and Cemal Asan

VAN, Turkey (AA) – Forty-seven suspects were detained Wednesday in anti-terror operations against the PKK in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

Police sources told Anadolu Agency that among the suspects are officials of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

The operations were held in the eastern province of Van and the southeastern province of Hakkari.

Forty of the suspects were detained in Van, while the rest were detained in Hakkari.

Metin Besi, the HDP’s Hakkari province co-chair, was detained in that province.

The suspects were taken to the police station for testimony.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July last year. Since then, PKK has martyred more than 700 security force members and claimed lives of numerous civilians including women and children while around 8,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended in army operations.