News / Turkey

Five senior PKK figures detained in southern Turkey: Interior Ministry

Friday, 30 December 2016 1:51 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 30 December 2016 3:23 PM ]

In this file photo, Turkish police forces stand guard in the aftermath of a shooting incident in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Reuters)

The Turkish Interior Ministry says at least five high-profile figures of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been arrested during a series of counter-terrorism operations against the militant group as well as its affiliate, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), in the southern part of the country.

A Ministry source, requesting not to be named, said the five were arrested in the southeastern provinces of Sanliurfa and Diyarbakir in addition to the Mediterranean southwestern province of Antalya.

They were charged with establishing, controlling and and membership in a terrorist group.

One of the detainees, identified only by the initials H.A., reportedly worked in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli on the border with Turkey for Hawar News Agency (ANHA).

Two others, who went by the initials S.A. and E.A., met and held talks with top terrorists at PKK positions in Mount Qandil in the far-flung mountains of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK, which has been calling for an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984, and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against the PKK positions in the country’s troubled southeastern border region as well as northern Iraq and Syria.

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