Turkish police on Friday detained 74 people during raids in the predominantly Kurdish cities of Diyarbakır, Elazığ and Hakkari as part of operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Gazete Karınca news website reported.
The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office issued detention warrants for 93 people on accusations of serving as the “civilian branch of the PKK.”
A Turkish court later arrested 38 of the detainees on charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda and supporting the terrorist organization.
Among the arrestees were seven mukhtars (elected neighborhood representatives).
According to the local gendarmerie, some of the detainees were responsible for terrorist attacks between 2015 and 2016.