(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Turkey detained dozens of Kurds who crossed the border from the besieged Syrian town of Kobane on suspicion of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), officials said yesterday.
A local official in the Turkish border town of Suruc said that around 265 people were taken into custody for fingerprint identification after they crossed from the mainly Kurdish town, which is under attack from Islamic State (IS) jihadists.
"Their fingerprints will be identified entirely for security purposes. They could be members of the organisation," he said, referring to the PKK, which Turkey's government refuses to name. He said they had not been placed under formal arrest.
Turkey fears the standoff around Kobane could lead to the creation of a Kurdish fighting force overlapping the Turkish and Syrian borders. Syria-based Kurds fighting with the People's Defence Units (YPG) against IS are affiliated to the PKK militants who have fought the Turkish authorities for the last three decades in an insurgency that has claimed 40,000 lives.
Kurdish officials earlier this week said all civilians had already fled Kobane. "From now on, whomever comes from the other side of the border will be either from the PKK or the YPG. We are talking about the country's security," the official said.
The Turkish government has prevented Kurds from crossing into Syria to join the fight against IS, infuriating locals and fuelling deadly protests across Turkey. Idris Nahsen, a Kurdish official from Kobane who fled to Turkey after escalating clashes between Kurds and IS insurgents, said hundreds had been detained after crossing the border.
"Some 350 civilians crossed to Turkey overnight but the Turkish intelligence captured them, accusing them of links with the PKK," he said. He said the detainees, currently being held in two different schools in Suruc, burned blankets on Tuesday night and were threatening to set themselves on fire.
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