ANKARA
Security forces have detained 1,050 suspects across 34 Turkish provinces since the nationwide "anti-terrorist operations" in the country began, official sources said Monday.
Most of the suspects allegedly belonged to Daesh, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), the Turkish Prime Minister’s Office of Public Diplomacy said in a statement Monday.
The statement also said that under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, ambassadors of all 28 NATO allies would meet in Brussels on Tuesday following Ankara’s request amid Turkey’s operations against the outlawed organizations.
Turkey will continue to fight against the terrorist threats from outside and inside, the statement added.
Earlier, Turkish security forces said that at least 256 suspects were detained in nationwide operations on Monday.
Police said that 15 people suspected of links with Daesh were arrested in raids in Ankara province on Monday morning.
In the eastern province of Erzurum, 34 people were detained during an anti-PKK operation.
In the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir and Mardin, security forces detained 135 people in another anti-PKK operation. Pistols, shotguns, explosives devices, Molotov cocktails and fireworks were also seized, the Provincial Security Directorate of Diyarbakir said.
In the southern province of Antalya, 20 people were detained in an anti-PKK operation.
In the southwestern province of Mugla, police detained six people allegedly linked with the PKK.
In the southern province of Mersin, security forces detained 16 people in an anti-Daesh operation and also seized four rifles, including a shotgun.
In the southeastern province of Batman, nine people were caught in joint operations against the PKK and Daesh. Police said that six out of the nine suspects were the members of the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H) linked to the PKK, while the rest were linked with Daesh.
In the southeastern province of Gaziantep, security forces detained 21 people in an operation against the Kurdistan Community Union (KCK), an umbrella organization of the PKK. Police said they were looking for 14 more suspects in the area. An unlicensed pistol, three licensed shotguns, blank firing guns, four magazines, 104 cartridges, two balaclavas, nine mobile phones, 10 computers, nine mobile phone SIM cards and documents belonging to the organization were also seized in the operation.
The nationwide operations are the latest in a recent wave of arrests that have seen hundreds of suspected Daesh, PKK and DHKP-C supporters arrested across Turkey.
The PKK is listed as a terror organization by the U.S., the EU and Turkey.
Turkey recently launched airstrikes against Daesh and the PKK in Syria and Iraq. On Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday, Turkish jets bombed PKK camps in northern Iraq for the first time in the last two-and-a-half years. Turkey also launched attacks against Daesh. Turkish jets again hit PKK targets inside and outside Turkey on Sunday night.
