Twenty coal mine owners were detained on Tuesday for financially aiding and abetting the PKK terror group in eastern Şırnak province.
Six of the owners were arrested while the other 14 were released under judicial control while the trial continues.
The coal mines, as they were unregistered, lacked critical measures to ensure the workers' safety and injuries or even death, and they were always an imminent threat, sources said.
Two weeks ago, seven workers were killed and one other was injured in one of these illegal coal mines as it collapsed.
Initial statements said that there were eight workers in the area of the collapse, but search and rescue crews resumed their efforts to locate if there were others trapped under the rubble.
Founded in 1978, the PKK has waged a decades long bloody campaign against Turkey.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, resumed its armed campaign in July 2015 after a brief reconciliation period.
Since that time, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 security personnel and civilians, including women and children, while more than 4,000 security personnel and over 2,000 civilians have been injured.
