Turkey arrests more than 170 people for alleged links to the PKK

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish security forces arrested more than 170 people on Friday for alleged ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), two days after an attack on a drone production facility in the capital Ankara.

“This morning, under the coordination of our General Director of Security… we arrested 176 PKK-linked suspects in 31 provinces in an early morning operation,” Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told journalists in Ankara.

He made the comments after visiting people in hospital who were injured in Wednesday’s attack on a Turkish Aerospace Industries Inc. facility. (TAI) in Ankara’s northern Kahramankazan district. Five people were killed and 22 others were injured. According to the minister, eight people are still in hospital.

The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack “was carried out by an independent team from the Immortal Battalion. This historic act was carried out with great determination,” said a statement released Friday by the PKK’s People’s Defense Center (NPG).

The attack came amid growing expectations that Turkey could resume peace talks with the PKK to end the 40-year conflict, but the PKK statement said the two are unrelated.

“This event, which was planned long ago and successfully implemented, has nothing to do with the political agenda discussed in Turkey over the past month,” the PKK said.

The aerospace company designs and builds civil and military aircraft, including drones. The PKK said the “weapons manufactured by TUSAS (TAI) have killed thousands of our citizens in Kurdistan, including women and children.”

In response to the attack, Turkey launched attacks on suspected PKK positions in the Kurdistan region and Syria late on Wednesday, hitting 32 targets.

Twelve civilians have been killed since Thursday, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The strikes continued on Friday morning and there are reports of more casualties.

The PKK said its troops were unharmed.