Turkish security forces have detained 176 people on suspicion of membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced.
Turkey considers the YPG to be an extension of the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Yerlikaya announced on X on Friday that the suspects were detained in 31 provinces across the country, including Ankara, Diyarbakır, Hakkari, İstanbul, İzmir, Şırnak, Tekirdağ and Van, as part of the “GÜRZ-20” (Mace-20) operation.
3️⃣1️⃣ ilde PKK/KCK-PYD/YPG yönelik düzenlenen “GÜRZ-20” operasyonlarında 1️⃣7️⃣6️⃣ şüpheli terör örgütü mensubu yakalandı❗️
Milletimizin huzuru, birlik ve beraberliği için son terörist etkisiz hale getirilinceye kadar mücadelemize kararlılıkla devam edeceğiz❗️
⚠️Cumhuriyet… pic.twitter.com/X9YhAqN6KJ
— Ali Yerlikaya (@AliYerlikaya) October 25, 2024
The suspects are alleged to have been involved in a terrorist organization, participating in its youth network, financing its operations, promoting propaganda on social media and joining unlawful demonstrations involving road blockades, tire burning and the throwing of stones, fireworks and Molotov cocktails.
The minister stated that a large number of unlicensed handguns, unlicensed hunting rifles and significant quantities of narcotics as well as digital materials were seized during the operations.
The detentions come after an attack on the state-run Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) near Ankara that killed five on Wednesday.
The Turkish government said it had proof the PKK was behind the attack and hours later its warplanes bombed militant targets in Iraq and Syria.
The PKK on Friday claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out by a team from the outlawed group’s “Immortals Battalion.”
The group said the attack by two PKK militants, a man and a woman, had been “planned for a long time,” denying any link to recent developments — a reference to the Turkish authorities’ apparent softening towards a negotiated solution to a decades-long conflict.
The PKK has waged an on-off insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.