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At least 21 suspects were detained for extortion to help finance the PKK/KCK terror group after a huge dawn sweep across the Turkish capital Ankara, security sources said Tuesday.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said the operation targeted 25 suspects in Altindag and Ulus districts, including ringleader Kasim B.
The suspects were charged with extorting money from entertainment venues, taxi drivers and shopkeepers on behalf of the PKK/KCK terror group.
Around 300 officers split into 60 teams targeted 35 addresses across the capital simultaneously.
Operations are ongoing to nab the rest of the suspects.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry said Friday that 18 PKK terrorists were neutralized between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, with one being captured alive.Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.In a statement, the ministry said eight of the terrorists had been neutralized in Turkey’s southeastern province of Sirnak by provincial gendarmerie in an operation codenamed "Hancer (Dagger)-6".Turkey 'neutralizes' 210 PKK terrorists in OctoberThe statement added that one of the neutralized terrorists had been responsible for an Oct. 4 attack on Turkish troops in southeastern Turkey which resulted in the martyrdom of eight soldiers.Selim Demiroglu, codenamed Firat Celi, who was on the orange category of the interior ministry's wanted list, was among the terrorists who were neutralized during the operation.The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and grey.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.Turkish jets 'neutralize' 6 terrorists in northern IraqSenior PKK terrorist neutralized in SE TurkeyPKK uses Turkey as excuse to end anti-Daesh ops in Syria
Turkey neutralizes 18 PKK terrorists over three days