Security forces continue anti-terror raids in Turkey

Published August 5th, 2015 - 10:30 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

Turkish police took one person into custody early Wednesday morning for allegedly being linked to the illegal Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) group.

Turkish police launched an operation on two addresses in the Okmeydani area on the city’s European side.

A bomb-disposal squad also attended the operation.

On Tuesday, 23 suspects in Istanbul were arrested in raids; police earlier identified three as being linked to the far-left DHKP-C.

Later, ten were identified as suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) while eight are accused of being Daesh extremists. The remaining two are said to belong to the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLK-P), which is listed as a terrorist group by the Turkish government.

Further arrests are expected, according to police.

The PKK has fought a bloody insurgency against Turkey since 1984 and, alongside Daesh, has been the target of recent airstrikes by the Turkish air force.

The DHKP-C, like the PKK, is considered a terror group by the EU and US, and was most active during the Cold War era.

This year it claimed responsibility for an attempted grenade attack on police guarding Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace and its members killed a senior prosecutor in Istanbul in March.

Subscribe

Sign up to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content