Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 14
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Around 270 militants of Syrian wing of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were detained in Suruc city, southern Turkey, Kanal7 TV channel reported Oct. 14.
"They moved to the country, along with the civilians of Syrian city of Kobani," a statement says.
Previously, all arrested militants underwent special military training in the camps of Syria's wing of PKK.
The reason of PKK militants' moving to Turkey is being clarified.
Turkey's conflict with the PKK, which demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for over 25 years and claimed more than 40,000 lives.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the UN and the EU.
The process of a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem in Turkey started in 2009, following which the PKK militants partially left Turkey and went into the neighboring Iraq.
After Ankara's announcement that it will not use the armed forces to protect Kobani from the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, the PKK supporters and the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas urged the Kurdish population in Turkey's southern provinces to hold mass protests.
Last week, Turkey imposed curfew in the provinces of Diyarbakir, Mardin, Siirt, Mus, Van and Batman because of the protests.
Aside from that, the protests in several provinces of Turkey inflicted severe damage to the property of municipalities and private businesses.
Turkey has repeatedly said civilians left Kobani, and the fights are going on in the town between the PKK's Syrian wing and the IS militants.
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