News / Turkey

Turkey police arrest 20 in Istanbul 'anti-terror operation'

Wednesday, 16 March 2016 9:17 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 16 March 2016 9:16 AM ]

People walk past the site of a car bombing that left 37 dead in Ankara on March 15, 2016 .

Police in the Turkish city of Istanbul have carried out an operation against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), arresting 20 people, local media report.

Anadolu news agency said on Wednesday that police forces backed by helicopters raided at least 32 locations across Istanbul, the country’s largest city.

Those arrested, including a number of lawyers, were taken to Istanbul’s main police station, the report said, noting that more people were detained in similar operations in eight other provinces.

The operations came as clashes erupted between Turkish forces and PKK militants in areas in the country’s southeast..

A relative of Elvin Bugra Arslan who was killed in a car bomb explosion mourns over a portrait during a funeral ceremony in Ankara on March 15, 2016. © AFP

In recent days, the Turkish military has stepped its military campaign against PKK militants after a huge bomb attack hit a busy square in the capital, Ankara, over the weekend, leaving 37 people dead and 125 others wounded.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, but security officials say initial findings suggest the two perpetrators of the car bombing were linked to the PKK.

The attack follows a similar bomb attack on February 17 that claimed the lives of 29 people in the capital. The attack was claimed by a separate Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK).

The government said one of the bombers was a young woman, who was trained by Syria’s Kurdish groups and was affiliated with PKK.

The PKK militants have had ambitions for an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey's southeast since the 1980s.

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