UPDATE - Over 150 PKK/KCK suspects arrested across Turkey

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Muhammed Boztepe and Muhyeddin Beyca

ANKARA/BATMAN, Turkey (AA) - At least 158 PKK/KCK terror suspects were arrested across Turkey on Tuesday, according to the Interior Ministry.

Among the arrested was Mehmet Serif Camci, provincial head of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in southeastern Diyarbakir, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said the Turkish police carried out operations across Turkey, while arrests were made in the capital Ankara and Istanbul as well as the eastern provinces of the country.

Operations are still ongoing, it added.

Meanwhile, the police in cooperation with the Turkish intelligence also arrested a senior member of PKK/KCK, identified as Devlet Aslan, in Turkey’s southeastern province of Batman, Turkish security sources said on Tuesday.

Aslan is reportedly one of the heads of the terrorist group’s Belgium branch, the source added.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children.