Turkey arrests 50 Gulen, PKK, and ISIS members
The Turkish authorities announced the arrest of 50 people from 3 organizations classified by Ankara as terrorist organizations.
According to the state-run news website TRT News, Turkish security forces launched an operation against Fethullah Gülen, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and ISIS in the southeastern province of Van.
“The operation led to the arrest of 22 PKK members (in reference to a Kurdish national designated as a terrorist), two FETO members (in reference to the Gülen group which is on the local terror list), and one ISIS member”, the source said.
In the northwestern state of Edirne, Turkish security forces arrested three people on charges of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as they fled across the border to Greece.
The security forces launched a third simultaneous operation in five provinces, based in the central province of Konya, and resulted in the arrest of nine people accused of belonging to the Gülen group accused by Ankara of being behind the 2016 coup attempt.
Thirteen people were also arrested in two simultaneous operations carried out in the states of Hatay and Kutahya against members of the Gülen group, according to the source, who noted that among the detainees were eight students of the military academies that were closed after the failed coup attempt.
Ankara accuses Gülen, which it considers a terrorist group, of masterminding the July 2016 coup attempt.
That is why the Turkish authorities have been pursuing the group’s members, both at home and abroad.
Turkish army and police forces have also been pursuing Kurdish elements inside and outside the country, particularly in northern Iraq and Syria, through security and military operations, on the grounds that they are classified as domestic terrorists.
