Türkiye detains nearly 20 people linked to terrorist organisation

Turkish authorities have detained 21 people in a large-scale operation targeting the terrorist organisation known as the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C), according to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The operation was carried out as part of an ongoing investigation into the activities of DHKP-C. Prosecutors stated that the suspects are linked to structures associated with Grup Yorum, TAYAD, and Mahalle Alan, Caliber.Az reports per Turkish media.

Security forces conducted simultaneous raids on 23 addresses across Türkiye, including locations in Istanbul, Hatay, Ankara, and Kocaeli, where 19 people were detained. During the searches, documents related to the organisation’s activities and digital storage devices were seized.

Authorities also reported that an additional raid was carried out at the İdil Cultural Centre in the Şişli district, where two more individuals were detained in connection with the investigation.

According to the prosecutor’s office, efforts are continuing to apprehend four additional suspects who remain at large as part of ongoing operational measures.

The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) is a Marxist-Leninist organisation that emerged in Türkiye in the 1990s as the successor of the earlier Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left) movement, with the declared aim of overthrowing the Turkish state and establishing a socialist system. 

The group has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Türkiye, and has been linked to multiple violent attacks, including assassinations, suicide bombings, and assaults targeting Turkish security forces and diplomatic interests.

International security assessments describe DHKP-C as maintaining a decentralised structure with cells operating in Türkiye and support networks in parts of Europe, where it has been associated with fundraising and propaganda activities under various affiliated fronts

By Jeyhun Aghazada