Police reveal terrorist hiding in HDP co-chair's house

Istanbul counter-terror police units detected that a terrorist who had received training in the ranks of the PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG) in the town of Kobani in northern Syria was staying in a home belonging to the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ, according to a statement released by officials at Istanbul police headquarters on Thursday.

Police units conducted simultaneous operations at 23 different addresses across Turkey on Wednesday to capture suspects believed to be working for a far-left terrorist organization in Turkey after receiving armed training in YPG camps in Kobani to carry out bomb attacks in the country.

Among the suspects, Fadime Ç. was believed to be hiding out in the Eyüp district of Istanbul. Units conducted an operation at that house, where Yüksekdağ's husband, Sedat Şenoğlu, was staying with another terrorist, but officials were unable to find Fadime.

"It is discovered that Fadime Ç. was also staying at the mentioned address of HDP co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu's husband Sedat Şenoğlu and E.O. were living, but she was not at this house during the operation. In the search that was carried out inside the building, a passport and the personal belongings of Fadime Ç. were found and the accuracy of the address in terms of its proximity to the suspect has been confirmed," the statement read. The Supreme Court of Appeals approved a court decision in May to send Şenoğlu to prison for seven years and six months due to acts which have been linked to the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) terrorist organization. The Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office previously opened a case against 26 senior leaders of the MLKP for being involved in 155 terrorist acts from 2005 to 2006. After serving about six years in jail, Şenoğlu was released in 2012 due to a High Criminal Court assessment of the term of imprisonment served.