Turkey- Spanish police arrest nine linked to PKK

Date

1/28/2016 4:49:24 AM

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly)

- Suspects held in Madrid Valencia and Bilbao

Spanish police have arrested nine suspects with links to the PKK the country’s Interior Ministry has confirmed.

The suspects were detained in the cities of Madrid Valencia and Bilbao on Wednesday.

They are being accused of belonging to an international terrorist organization and of collaboration with a terrorist organization. Of those arrested eight are Spanish nationals and one is Turkish.

“The operation was to go against a structure in Spain with ramifications throughout European countries and Turkey which has the end-goal of collaborating and enabling individuals to join the armed side of the terrorist organization” read an official statement from the Interior Ministry.

Police suspect that the arrested in collaboration with others throughout Europe recruited members into the PPK and provided them with the infrastructure necessary to travel abroad to join the armed branch of the organization.

Once there recruits would begin weapons training and eventually join combat cells says the Interior Ministry.

During the operation police searched 11 addresses and confirmed that they have seized a lot of material yet to be analyzed.

One of the properties is considered to be the headquarters of a group which goes by the name ‘Communist Reconstruction’. Police say that the majority of those of the arrested belonged to this organization.

The operation is ongoing.

The PKK has been considered a terrorist organization in the European Union since July 2011.

In Oct. 2015 Spanish police detained Senol Akyaz in Alicante who was wanted by Turkey for his alleged involvement with the PKK.

In Feb. 2013 six members of the PKK network were also arrested in Spain for extortion and illegal financing. During the same year Spanish police were also involved in the arrest of Yilmaz Orkan in Brussels who was suspected of leading a PKK extortion network.

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