Turkey detains dozens of people in raids following suicide bomb attack

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Police detained at least 67 people across Turkey on Tuesday in a sweep targeting people with alleged links to Kurdish militants, days after a suicide bomb attack in the Turkish capital.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said police carried out raids in 16 Turkish provinces, detaining 55 people suspected of being part of the “intelligence structure” of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. At least 12 other suspected PKK members were rounded up in a separate operation in five provinces, Yerlikaya wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

The PKK has led a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is considered a terror organization by the United States and the European Union. Tens of thousands of people have died since the start of the conflict in 1984.

A member of Turkish security forces stands guard near a cordoned off area after an explosion in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before parliament was scheduled to reopen after a summer recess. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

A member of Turkish security forces stands guard near a cordoned off area after an explosion in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before parliament was scheduled to reopen after a summer recess. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

On Sunday, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near an entrance to the Interior Ministry hours before President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was set to address Parliament as it returned from its summer recess. A second would-be bomber was killed in a shootout with police.

Two police officers were slightly wounded in the attack. The suspects arrived at the scene inside a vehicle they seized from a veterinarian in the central Turkish of Kayseri after shooting him in the head, officials said.

The PKK claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a news website close to the group, while Turkish authorities identified one of the assailants as a PKK militant. Hours later, Turkey’s Air Force carried out airstrikes on suspected PKK sites in northern Iraq, where the group’s leadership is based. The Defense Ministry said a large number of PKK militants were “neutralized” in the strikes.

Yerlikaya did not clarify whether the people rounded up on Tuesday were suspected of direct involvement in Sunday’s attack.

Turkish security forces cordon off an area after an explosion in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before parliament was scheduled to reopen after a summer recess. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

Turkish security forces cordon off an area after an explosion in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before parliament was scheduled to reopen after a summer recess. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya talks to journalists in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before parliament was scheduled to reopen after a summer recess. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya talks to journalists in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday, hours before parliament was scheduled to reopen after a summer recess. A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Ali Unal)

A bomb disposal expert works next to a car after an explosion in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police, the interior minister said. (Yavuz Ozden/Dia Images via AP)

A bomb disposal expert works next to a car after an explosion in Ankara, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. A suicide bomber detonated an explosive device in the heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Sunday A second assailant was killed in a shootout with police, the interior minister said. (Yavuz Ozden/Dia Images via AP)