Turkish forces have killed 26 Kurdish fighters in airstrikes in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for the killing of soldiers earlier this week, and authorities have detained dozens of opposition figures who support Kurds, the defense ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said on Saturday that 12 Turkish soldiers were killed in a clash with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, prompting Ankara to launch a wave of airstrikes and operations in the region.
The ministry added on Monday that preliminary results showed the strikes had “neutralized” at least 26 fighters. Ankara typically uses the word “neutralized” to mean killed.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday that operations in a region in northern Iraq had “neutralized” 30 PKK fighters, bringing the total number of militants killed since the beginning of the week to 56.
The PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has been waging an armed campaign against the Turkish state since 1984. Turkish forces have regularly carried out cross-border strikes in Iraq as part of their campaign against PKK militants based there.
Security sources said on Monday that police also detained 52 members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) during a youth wing meeting in Diyarbakir province in southeastern Turkey.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on the Twitter platform that the suspects were accused of “praising the crime and the criminal… and spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization.” He added that arrest warrants had been issued for others.
In response, the HDP, the third-largest party in parliament, described the detentions as politically motivated and called for the immediate release of its members.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu later said that authorities had launched investigations into 57 social media accounts accused of posting content against the Turkish Armed Forces, and that four people had been arrested as part of the operation.
Soylu said on the Twitter platform that “those who try to sow the seeds of discord among the people of our country, praise terrorism, and insult our national and moral values, will be held accountable before the law.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government have repeatedly accused the pro-Kurdish opposition party of having ties to the PKK, and authorities have arrested dozens of its officials in recent years. The party denies the accusations that it has links to militants.
