5 far-left terror suspects arrested in Turkey

By Huseyin Bagis and Halil Demir

ISTANBUL (AA) - In an Istanbul-based operation, Turkish police teams on Wednesday arrested five people over their alleged links to the far-left DHKP-C and MLKP terror groups, said security sources.

Anti-terror teams had launched an operation to nab seven suspects said to be active in local illegal acts by the terrorist DHKP-C and MLKP, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

In an Istanbul-based operation, held simultaneously in the southeastern Diyarbakir and southern Kahramanmaras provinces, police teams raided houses and arrested five suspects.

A large number of organizational documents and digital materials were seized in searches of the addresses.

A search is underway to catch the remaining suspects.

The DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in Turkey, including a 2013 attack on the US Embassy in the capital Ankara in which a Turkish security guard was martyred.

The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU.

The MLKP was founded in 1994 and was added to Turkey's active terror list in 2007.

The terrorist group is responsible for many attacks in Turkey and northern Syria, including the bombing of a public bus in 2004 in Istanbul that killed three civilians.

*Writing by Havva Kara Aydin