Turkish police have conducted raids in several provinces and arrested about 145 people with alleged links to Kurdish militants on Tuesday, October 3.
The detention was made two days after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance gate of the interior ministry’s general directorate of security in Turkey’s capital Ankara on Sunday, September 30.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya informed that police have raided almost 64 Turkish provinces, detaining people suspected of being associated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK ), which is outlawed and declared a terrorist organisation by Turkey’s administration.
“Around 13,400 Turkish security personnel took part in the search operations and conducted a raid in 64 provinces where a number of unlicensed ammunition was recovered,” the minister added.
However, the minister did not clarify whether the people rounded up were suspected of direct involvement in Sunday’s attack.
The raids came just after the airstrikes launched by Turkish forces in northern Iraq, destroying 20 targets of the PKK hideout on Monday, October 2. The Turkish airstrikes targeted the PKK bases in Gara, Hakurk, Metina and Qandil, Xinhua news agency reported.
Kurdish militants vs Turkey
The armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and various Kurdish insurgent groups has a decades-long history. The militant group demands separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan. They also fight in an attempt to secure autonomy and greater political and cultural rights for Kurds inside Turkey.
Turkey, the United States and the European Union have declared the Kurdish militants a terror network. Tens of thousands of people have died since the start of the conflict in 1984.
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