Turkey arrests PKK suspect hiding among migrants

By Sengul Azbay and Kadir Yildiz

KOCAELI, Turkey (AA) - Turkish gendarmerie teams identified a PKK terror suspect, who was hiding in a group of irregular migrants that were held in northwestern Turkey in early February, officials said on Friday.

Acting on a tip that a group of irregular migrants including a PKK terror suspect will be smuggled to the European countries, gendarmerie teams in the Kocaeli province raided an address in the Kandira district on Feb. 2, said the city governorate in a statement.

In the operation, the teams arrested 12 suspects, including two Syrian nationals and nine Iraqi nationals, along with a human smuggler, the statement added.

The security teams found out that the suspect who introduced himself as I.I. was a Syrian national, identified only with initials K.H.R.S., allegedly responsible for a total of five terrorist acts, including an explosive attack in 2012 on an armored police vehicle and also on a military convoy in the Semdinli district of Turkey's southeastern Hakkari province.

A judicial process launched following the arrest is underway, it noted.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

* Writing by Havva Kara Aydin in Ankara.