Turkey Detains 20 People Linked to Kurdish Militants Over Ankara Bombing
Turkey Detains 20 People Linked to Kurdish Militants Over Ankara Bombing
Turkish authorities have detained 20 people linked to Kurdish militants over a bombing in the capital Ankara that killed six people and injured 80 others, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Sunday.
Soylu said the suspects were detained in raids across the country, including in Ankara, Istanbul, and the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is headquartered.
The PKK is a designated terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. It has been waging a decades-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey, seeking autonomy for the country's Kurdish minority.
Soylu said the suspects were members of the PKK's youth wing, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), which is responsible for a number of attacks in Turkey in recent years.
"We have identified the perpetrators of this attack," Soylu said in a televised address. "They are all members of the TAK."
Soylu said the suspects were planning to carry out further attacks in Ankara and other cities.
"We have prevented other attacks that were planned in Ankara and other cities," he said.
The bombing in Ankara on Saturday was the deadliest attack in Turkey since 2016. It came at a time when the country is already on high alert due to a series of terrorist attacks in recent years.
The Turkish government has blamed the PKK for the bombing, but the group has denied responsibility.
The PKK has been waging a decades-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey, seeking autonomy for the country's Kurdish minority. The group has been designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.
The Turkish government has responded to the PKK insurgency with a heavy-handed security crackdown. The government has also accused the PKK of being responsible for a number of attacks in Turkey in recent years, including the bombing in Ankara on Saturday
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