UPDATE - Turkey: 834 PKK suspects arrested in police raids

UPDATES NUMBER OF DETENTIONS IN MORE PROVINCES, EDITS THROUGHOUT

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish police detained at least 834 suspects linked to the terrorist PKK organization in operations across Turkey throughout Tuesday, Turkish Security Headquarters announced.

The security headquarters, in a written statement, said that the operations took place in 37 different provinces across Turkey.

Anti-terror police operations took place at early hours in the capital Ankara, the eastern provinces of Agri, Mus, Erzincan, Bitlis, and Van, as well as the southern provinces of Adana, Mersin, and Antalya, the central province of Konya, and the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir and Gaziantep

During the raids, anti-terror squads apprehended 34 suspects in Ankara, Agri, Mus, and Van, 34 in Adana, 10 in Antalya, and eight in Konya.

The nephew of Sirri Sakik, the mayor of the eastern province of Agri, was also arrested in the operation in Mus, a police source, on the condition on anonymity due to restrictions of speaking to media, said.

In the raids, anti-terror squads also detained seven suspects in the eastern Erzincan province, seven in the southern Mersin province, 10 in the southeastern Diyarbakir province, 13 in the southern Gaziantep province, and 11 in the eastern Bitlis province.

Also, two AK-47s, 11 pistols, 15 shotguns, 437 cartridges, documents regarding PKK terror group and digital equipments were seized.

The security measures were tightened in southeastern provinces as a precaution ahead of the 18th anniversary of the date PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, was captured abroad by Turkish intelligence officers and brought to Turkey for trial.

Ocalan was captured on Feb. 15, 1999 in Kenyan capital Nairobi.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU.

More than 1,200 victims, including security personnel and civilians, have lost their lives in PKK attacks since the terror group resumed its decades-long campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. More than 4,000 security personnel and over 2,000 civilians also have been injured.

In anti-terror operations, more than 10,000 PKK terrorists have been killed or apprehended. Approximately 5,500 weapons, 652,000 rounds of ammunition, and more than 142 tons of explosives and 15,000 bombs have been seized.