ANKARA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces captured 65 suspects linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in operations conducted across 17 provinces, the country's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Tuesday.
In a social media post, Yerlikaya said the week-long operations were coordinated by prosecutors' offices, police counterterrorism units and intelligence departments.
He said the raids, codenamed "Mace-36," took place in 17 provinces, including Adana, Antalya, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Istanbul and Izmir, without specifying the time frame.
"We are determined to continue our struggle for a terror-free Türkiye, where violence and instability have no place," Yerlikaya said, referring to a new initiative aimed at forcing the PKK to lay down arms.
The suspects are accused of spreading terrorist propaganda on social media, being members of the PKK's youth wing and financing the organization. Security forces also seized a large number of unlicensed firearms during the operations.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has been engaged in armed rebellion against the Turkish government for four decades. ■
