Turkish police have detained 418 people suspected of having links to the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), the Interior Ministry announced on Monday.
The arrests were made in 29 provinces and “operations are ongoing,” the ministry added. Earlier in the morning, the Turkish government had also announced that the mayors of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van — cities in the southeast of the country — had been dismissed and replaced by state officials.
They are accused of “trying to use militant resources, financial resources, tools and equipment and logistics centres to support terrorist activities.”
“In fact, they tried to make these municipalities part of a separate administration from other regions in our country,” the government said.
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The Turkish government considers the PKK to be a terrorist organisation and has stepped up its campaign against the in recent years after a ceasefire agreement broke down in 2015.
The PKK says they are fighting for an independent Kurdish state.
