Anti-terror raids

Turkey: Hundreds of PKK members arrested

The Turkish police are taking action against the opposition.(Bild: AP/Emrah Gurel)

A wave of arrests against members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is currently underway in Turkey. As Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya explained on Tuesday, 22 suspected PKK members have been arrested in anti-terror raids over the past five days.

The raids took place in 51 provinces as well as in the capital Ankara and in Istanbul. The suspects are accused of carrying out PKK propaganda, financing the group, recruiting members and taking part in street protests.

Machine guns confiscated
Among other things, the police confiscated two AK-47 rifles. In parallel to the raids, Turkey is continuing to remove pro-Kurdish mayors elected by the population from their posts, citing alleged links to militants as the reason.

Only on Saturday, Turkey dismissed a mayor of the pro-Kurdish DEM party in the eastern Turkish province of Van from office due to terrorist convictions. This brought to eight the number of DEM mayors who have been replaced by state-appointed mayors since the 2024 elections. This crackdown coincides with the hope that the 40-year conflict between the PKK and Turkey will come to an end.

Conflict has been smouldering for decades
PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkey for many years, has apparently indicated his willingness to end the underground organization's armed struggle. He is prepared to take the necessary step for a call to lay down arms, Öcalan was quoted as saying in a statement by two MPs from the pro-Kurdish DEM party at the end of December.

Öcalan did not, however, comment in detail on what form this call might take. This was preceded by a suggestion from the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bahceli, that Öcalan should call for an end to the decades-long PKK insurgency in return for the possibility of his release. The MHP is an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's AKP, which leads the government.

The PKK, which is classified as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, began its uprising against the state in 1984, initially fighting for a separate state and later for autonomy for the Kurds. Over 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict to date.