Turkey Intensifies Crackdown on PKK Sympathizers, Arrests 98

Turkish authorities on Monday arrested 98 people for their alleged connections to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an organization deemed a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union. According to the Interior Ministry, the majority of these arrests were made on charges of disseminating PKK propaganda via social media. The coordinated operations spanned 18 provinces, with a significant number of detentions occurring in Turkey’s southeastern regions.

The PKK has been engaged in an armed conflict with the Turkish government since 1984, a struggle that has resulted in over 40,000 deaths. The recent crackdown follows intensified military actions by Turkey against PKK affiliates in Syria and Iraq. This escalation also includes increased domestic measures in response to a bombing near government facilities in Ankara on Oct. 1, an attack attributed to PKK fighters.