Security forces detained 14 suspected PKK terrorists in counterterrorism operations conducted on the anniversary of the arrest of PKK’s ringleader Abdullah Öcalan in Turkey’s southern Adana province on Monday.

Counterterrorism squads carried out simultaneous dawn raids to nab the suspects in several addresses in Adana.

The suspects were taken to the hospital for routine checks then were brought to the police station for interrogation.

Öcalan, who founded the PKK in 1978, was captured on Feb. 15, 1999, and sentenced to the death penalty due to his role in the terrorist group's decadeslong campaign against the Turkish state, which led to the deaths of more than 40,000 people.

After the abolishment of the death penalty in Turkey in 2002, Öcalan's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He is being held in a high-security prison on Imralı Island in the Sea of Marmara.