Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Tuesday that 165 suspects linked to the PKK terrorist group were detained in nationwide operations dubbed "Heroes-43." In Istanbul, another 20 suspects from the "female network" of the terrorist group were apprehended, authorities announced.
Yerlikaya said law enforcement counterterrorism and intelligence units launched operations in 28 provinces, including the capital Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul, against "separatist organization," a term he usually employs to describe the PKK.
"We will not give respite to terrorists and will ensure peace and unity of our nation," Yerlikaya said.
He said that 165 captured suspects were involved in a string of crimes, from aiding and abetting the terrorist group to social media propaganda on behalf of the PKK.
In Istanbul, the Chief Prosecutor's Office issued arrest warrants for 25 suspects linked to the TJA, the PKK's women's unit. Twenty suspects were captured in operations in three cities so far. The prosecutor's office said in a statement that the suspects worked to persuade former members of the PKK to rejoin the group and sought new recruits.
The terrorist group stepped up its attacks on Turkish forces in Iraq, in particular, where it maintains hideouts in a mountainous territory in the north, near the Turkish border.
Türkiye will not, under any circumstances or for any reason, allow the establishment of "terrorism" along its southern borders, a statement released after a crucial security meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said last Saturday.
Türkiye battles the PKK terrorist group in northern Iraq and its Syrian affiliate, the YPG, in northern Syria, which constitutes a serious security threat to the country. The meeting, which took place at the Dolmabahçe office in Istanbul, focused on steps to be brought against PKK terrorists in the aftermath of a brutal terrorist attack that martyred nine Turkish soldiers in the Operation Claw-Lock region in Iraq.
It highlighted that Türkiye will continue to carry out counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq and Syria until the last terrorist is eliminated.