Police detained seven suspects linked to the terrorist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) in the Turkish capital Ankara, reports said Thursday.
Ankara police launched an operation to nab eight terrorists in the group’s so-called civil servant structure, the Revolutionary Civil Servant Movement (DMH), and detained seven suspects.
The police found DHKP-C material in the homes of the suspects, who are accused of organizing activities and making propaganda based on the terrorist group’s orders. They are also accused of recruiting for the DHKP-C, defending terrorists on social media and provoking people.
The suspects have also openly participated in activities organized by the DHKP-C, including conferences and meetings in various cities, and have kept in touch with terrorist leaders, while they announced the names of police officers as targets.
The DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in Turkey, including the assassination of business tycoon Özdemir Sabancı in 1996, and an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara in 2013, which killed a Turkish security guard.
The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.
It has become less active in the country in recent years but remains a major security threat.
The DHKP-C, which operated under the name "Dev Sol" until 1994, claimed responsibility for a series of high-profile murders, including the assassination of nationalist politician Gün Sazak and former Prime Minister Nihat Erim in 1980.
The group also killed several Turkish intelligence officers.
In 1994, the DHKP-C was founded after Dev Sol splintered. The group's terror activities remained relatively minor compared to the PKK, another terrorist organization targeting Turkey.
The DHKP-C attempted to stage a bloody comeback in recent years by carrying out attacks against the police. In 2012, about 10 years after its last known lethal attack in Turkey, the DHKP-C carried out a suicide bombing at a police station in Istanbul, killing a policeman. It also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, which killed a Turkish security guard in February 2013.
This was followed a month later by rocket attacks against the Ministry of Justice in Ankara and the headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
In September 2013, the DHKP-C claimed responsibility for a rocket attack against the headquarters of the Turkish police in the capital. No casualties were reported in the three attacks.