UPDATE - Turkish police nab 8 terror suspects

UPDATES WITH MORE ARRESTS ACROSS TURKEY, MINOR EDITS, CHANGES DECK

By Volkan Kasik, Orhan Pehlul and Omer Yasin Ergin

MALATYA, ADIYAMAN, DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AA) - Turkish police on Tuesday arrested eight suspects over their alleged links to the PKK terrorist organization, sources and officials said.

Police in the eastern province of Malatya learned that five suspects, who allegedly conducted armed activities for the YPG, the PKK's Syrian offshoot, and had taken on supposed senior roles in the group, entered Turkey, said sources on the condition of anonymity.

After six months of monitoring, an operation was conducted in the metropolis Istanbul, the neighboring northwestern Kocaeli province, and Mediterranean province of Antalya.

Three of the five suspects were remanded in custody, while the other two were released on bail.

Later in the day, gendarmerie forces held a suspect in the southeastern Adiyaman province for allegedly providing financial support to the PKK.

Meanwhile, weapons and a large number of ammunition and magazines (ammunition storage and feeding device) were seized in a coffin found in the garden of a mosque and a disused old school building in southeastern Diyarbakır province, according to the provincial governorate. Two suspects related to the incident were nabbed.

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 Dilan Pamuk and Zehra Nur Duz in Ankara