At least 12 PKK-linked suspects, including the pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Gaziantep provincial chairman Müslüm Kılıç and HDP's regional affiliate Democratic Regions Party's (DBP) provincial head Abdullah İnce were arrested Wednesday within the scope of anti-terror operations.

A total of 52 suspects were placed into custody as part of the investigation. Of the 18 suspects that were forwarded to the courthouse, 12 were arrested while the other six were released under the condition of judicial control.

Another 10 suspects were brought to the court under broad security measures after their procedures at the police station were completed. The processing of the other 24 suspects continues.

The PKK terrorist organization resumed its decades-old campaign in July 2015 after a three-year cease-fire collapsed. Since then, scores of people, including security personnel and civilians, have lost their lives in PKK attacks. Some HDP municipalities have directly or indirectly supported these violent terrorist activities.

"Forty-two out of the 94 mayors that were dismissed in the previous term were punished with 286 years (in prison)," Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said Thursday in the Parliament.

The HDP has many times drawn ire for transferring taxpayer money and funds to the PKK, a globally recognized terrorist group. HDP mayors and local officials have been found to misuse funds in support of the PKK terrorist group and provide jobs to PKK sympathizers. The party is also known to have been recruiting people for the terrorist organization by abducting them to the mountains.