The counter-terrorism branch of the Istanbul Police Department on Friday launched a wide-range operation on predetermined suspected addresses in several districts, leading to the detention of four district heads for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).A number of weapons were seized and 44 people suspected of affiliations with PKK terror organization were also detained during the operation. According to local media sources, the HDP heads are from the Istanbul districts of Beşiktaş, Şişli, Eyüp and Beylikdüzü.Although the PKK terrorist group and the HDP do not officially have ties, the PKK strongly supports the HDP. HDP deputy Abdullah Zeydan had made provocative statements and threatened Turkey in late July, saying that the terrorist organization PKK has the power to "suffocate Turkey with its spit." The operation, which was supported by special task forces, covered 28 districts of Istanbul, including Sultangazi, Bağcılar, Esenyurt and Başakşehir. In another incident showing the relations between the two groups, Turkish security forces on September 7 had detained nine people, including Şafak Özanlı a HDP deputy from Kars, for transporting food and other supplies to the PKK terrorist organization. The PKK utilizes a "political style," which instills fear and uses force, which includes kidnapping people, attacking ruling AK Party members and threatening people in the Kurdish dominated regions in Turkey's eastern provinces, in order to influence voters to choose the HDP.The Turkish government has intensified its counterterror operations following the recent attacks carried out by the PKK, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S., the EU and Turkey.Renewed violence has threatened the reconciliation process officially initiated in early 2013, aimed at ending the 30-year conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state.The PKK, depicted as rebels in Western media, has killed 6,741 people since the 1980s when it started its first attacks, according to statistics compiled by Anadolu Agency. The group dismisses civilian deaths as collateral damage in attacks targeting security forces though several instances of killings prove otherwise.Formed in 1978, the PKK terrorist group has been fighting the Turkish government for an independent state until the early 2000's. The group then shifted its goal to autonomy in predominately Kurdish inhabited regions of Turkey.