Turkish security forces arrested 113 people on Saturday over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced. The arrests were the result of coordinated raids across the country.
The widespread raids in 32 cities, most of which have a Kurdish majority, are reportedly aimed at preventing ‘illegal organisational activities and blocking financial resources’.
The raids and arrests came in the wake of the recent escalation of clashes between the PKK and the Turkish army in the Zap region of Iraqi Kurdistan, where nine Turkish soldiers lost their lives and four were injured on Friday.
Yerlikaya also revealed that the authorities had identified and taken action against 110 social media accounts involved in “spreading misleading information while praising the terrorist group”.
The minister’s statement highlighted that of the identified suspects, 95 are currently outside the country and legal proceedings have been initiated against them, as six have been arrested. The remaining nine are still under investigation.