Eighteen Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) terrorist organization suspects were detained on Tuesday in operations carried out in Ankara and Istanbul.
According to a statement from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, an investigation by the Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau led to the detention of six individuals connected to DHKP-C’s Ankara branch and those who supported illegal protests affiliated with TAYAD, an organization linked to the group.
Similarly, in the investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau against DHKP-C, it was found that 14 suspected members of the group were operating within the "Gazi Neighborhood Sports Club" and the "Gazi Local Area Structure."
Twelve of the 14 suspects were detained in operations by police forces, while a gun, a cartridge clip, as well as digital material were seized. Search for the remaining two suspects continues.
The DHKP-C is an offshoot of a Marxist-Leninist movement that was established in the 1970s. It was founded in the 1990s after it splintered from a larger group of far-left organizations responsible for a string of attacks that included the assassination of two politicians in 1980 and several intelligence officials.
It kept a relatively low profile for many years. Additionally, its attacks were relatively minor compared to the PKK, another terrorist group active in Türkiye. In 2013, a DHKP-C militant carried out a suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy compound in the capital, killing a Turkish security guard. In 2015, DHKP-C members held a prosecutor hostage before killing him at an Istanbul courthouse. They tried a similar attack at the same courthouse last year before police officers outside thwarted the attack, killing two assailants.
The DHKP-C also claimed responsibility for nonlethal rocket attacks targeting the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) headquarters, the Turkish National Police headquarters and a Justice Ministry building in Ankara in 2013.
The group, designated as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU, advocates a far-left ideology.
