Senior PKK leader Sara Aktaş detained in Istanbul

A senior leader of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organization that includes the PKK, was detained in Istanbul late Sunday.

The high-ranking militant, Aktaş, was responsible for coordinating terror activities across Turkey. She was detained by security forces at Istanbul Atatürk International Airport before trying to flee the country with a fake passport.

Both the PKK-affiliated Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG) function under the umbrella network of the KCK, which is led by imprisoned terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan. Although the PKK was headquartered in Syria until 1998, currently, the PKK is controlled from its headquarters in northern Iraq's Qandil Mountains. KCK terrorist groups function under the names of the PKK in Turkey, the PÇDK in Iraq, the PYD in Syria and PJAK in Iran.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and EU, resumed its nearly 40-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015. Since then, over 600 security personnel, including troops, police officers and village guards have been killed along with more than 7,000 PKK terrorists in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

Turkish army destroys 12 PKK positions in northern Iraq

The Turkish military destroyed 12 PKK positions in airstrikes against the terrorist group in northern Iraq, the military said early Monday.

According to a statement issued by the Turkish General Staff, fighter jets carried out the airstrikes in the Avaşin-Basyan and Qandil regions on Sunday between 8:01-9:03 p.m. (5:01-6:03 GMT).

Court accepts indictment against HDP deputies

A court in Turkey's western province of İzmir has accepted an indictment against the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) co-chairwoman and two other lawmakers of the party on terror charges, a judiciary source said Monday. The Public Prosecutor's Office in İzmir had charged HDP Co-Chairwoman Figen Yüksekdağ and lawmaker Erdal Ataş with "making propaganda for a terrorist organization." Another HDP lawmaker, Mizgin Irgat, was charged with "promoting crimes and criminals," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

The prosecutor's office had brought the charges in court after probing the speeches of the HDP lawmakers during a panel discussion in İzmir in February. The speeches had referred to the PKK terrorist organization's actions as "people's struggle" and were made part of the indictment on "terrorism and propaganda for a terrorist organization." Earlier this month, 13 HDP lawmakers were arrested. Ten, including co-leaders Selahattin Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ, remain in custody awaiting trial on terrorism-related charges.