Diyarbakir, Turkey– Turkey on Tuesday held 110 people over alleged terror links just three weeks before a knife-edge vote that could extend President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-decade rule, police sources told AFP.
The mass raids — dubbed by the sources as a “counter-terror” operation — took place in 21 provinces including the Kurdish majority Diyarbakir in the southeast.
State media TRT reported that police held people suspected of financing the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or roping in new members to the group.
Deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Turkey, the PKK has been waging a decades-long armed struggle against Ankara for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority.
The operation also involved suspects who transferred money to the PKK through from municipalities held by Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), TRT said.
The Diyarbakir bar association said the number of detentions could be as high as 150, adding that they included 20 lawyers, five journalists, three actors and one politician.
The HDP — which is the second largest opposition party in the parliament — is widely seen as a kingmaker in the tight race.
Erdogan has often accused the HDP of alleged links to the PKK, which the party denies.
The HDP said last month it would not field a presidential candidate in May 14 elections, giving tacit support to Erdogan’s secular rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.