Turkish authorities have detained 21 of some 30 suspects tied to the PKK terrorist group as part of an ongoing investigation.
The suspects were wanted for spreading propaganda that praised or legitimized the violent methods of the terrorist group, the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the capital, Ankara, said on Tuesday.
The suspects also attended PKK events in Ankara with direct orders from the terrorist group, authorities said.
The counterterrorism police are continuing operations across eight provinces to capture the rest of the suspects, they added.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group by Türkiye, the U.S., Britain and the European Union. It launched a campaign of violence in southeastern Türkiye in 1984, and over 40,000 people were killed as a result.
The group, battered and demoralized by Turkish security forces’ successful operations, has been, in recent years, losing members and failing to attract recruits, according to Turkish officials.
Authorities say less than 200 PKK terrorists remain in Turkish territories, while others are confined to Iraq and Syria. The southeastern region of Türkiye, plagued with terrorism for decades, regained a sense of normalcy, which is evident in flourishing tourism and other activities in the mountains once used as hideouts by terrorists.
The group is now restrained mainly in northern parts of Iraq and Syria, right across the Turkish border, which remains a concern for Ankara.
Türkiye has intensified its strikes on the PKK both at home and in Iraq and Syria since the group claimed a suicide attack outside the Turkish National Police headquarters in Ankara earlier this month in which one PKK terrorist blew himself up, and another would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police resulting in two police officers being wounded.
Since Oct. 1, Turkish forces have eliminated over 150 PKK terrorists and dozens of facilities and hideouts in northern Syria and Iraq. Operation Heroes saw thousands of fugitive suspects captured across Türkiye.
Following the attack, the first major assault by the PKK in a big city after the Istiklal Street attack in Istanbul, which claimed six lives last year, Türkiye also signaled that it may launch a new cross-border offensive against the terrorist group.
