ISTANBUL: Turkiye has detained 282 people in a nationwide swoop on those with suspected “terror” ties, the interior minister said Tuesday, despite a parallel government bid to end the bloody four-decade Kurdish conflict.
Ankara is seeking to revive peace talks with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terror group by Turkiye and its Western allies, that have been frozen for a decade.
The process began when a hard-line nationalist party unexpectedly offered an olive branch to jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan in October.
The raids began five days ago and have so far taken place in 51 cities including Istanbul, Ankara and the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir in the southeast, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X.
On Tuesday, the authorities issued arrest warrants for 60 people, including members of the main pro-Kurdish DEM party, several left-wing figures and journalists. All were detained over alleged terror ties, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Fifty-two have been detained so far.
Among them were three journalists, the Turkish Journalists Union said.
“It is unacceptable that they were detained during raids on their homes rather than being summoned to the police station” for questioning, it said.
Writing on X, DEM said “Turkiye woke up today with another operation” against its members.
“It’s clear that the prospect of a solution and peace is beginning to keep some people awake at night,” it said.
Sinan Ulgen, an analyst with Carnegie Europe in Ankara, said the government’s objective was to start the negotiations with DEM having the upper hand.
“It sends the message that if these negotiations don’t succeed, there is always this scenario of greater pressure on the members of DEM,” he told AFP.
Since late December, a DEM delegation has twice visited Ocalan and held follow-up talks with Turkiye’s main parliamentary factions.
On Sunday, the delegation traveled to Iraq to meet Kurdish representatives.
Militants from Ocalan’s PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, operate out of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where Turkiye also has military bases.
The delegation will hold more talks with Kurdish officials in the city of Sulaymaniyah on Tuesday, including the autonomous region’s deputy prime minister Qubad Talabani.
In October, the hard-line nationalist MHP leader Devlet Bahceli urged Ocalan to renounce violence in exchange for a possible early release from Imrali island, where he has been serving life in solitary confinement since 1999.
Backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the call has renewed hopes of an end to the conflict that claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Ocalan is widely expected to call on for his followers to lay down their arms in the coming weeks with Kurdish politicians confident it will be no later than Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, in March.
But many in the southeast have little faith the current initiative will work, recalling the tremendous backlash of violence that erupted when the last peace initiative shattered in 2015.
“Elected mayors are removed, there are ongoing police raids and journalists are rounded up,” Zeki Celik, who runs a silver workshop, told AFP in Diyarbakir.
“There’s been mistrust, so we don’t find it credible.”
Since last year’s local elections, nine DEM mayors have been removed and replaced by government-appointed administrators.
Gonul Tol, head of the Turkish studies program at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said Erdogan was following a two-pronged approach.
“On the one hand, he’s pursuing these talks with the PKK, but the second track is that he never actually really wholeheartedly owned it,” she told AFP.
“Instead, he kept saying that this was an initiative led by Devlet Bahceli,” she said.
“And that second track also included ‘business as usual’ with the Kurds, meaning targeting them, jailing them, appointing mayoral replacements, thus capturing democratically-elected Kurdish municipalities.”
Turkiye arrests 282 despite reconciliation bid with PKK
https://arab.news/bb9sd
Turkiye arrests 282 despite reconciliation bid with PKK
- The raids began five days ago and have so far taken place in 51 cities including Istanbul, Ankara and Diyarbakir
- On Tuesday, the authorities issued arrest warrants for 60 people, including members of the main pro-Kurdish DEM party
Qatari minister reaffirms support for Lebanon, calls stability a regional priority
- Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi said Lebanon remains key foreign policy priority, reveals economic, development and humanitarian measures
- US ambassadors to Lebanon, Israel meet in Jordan to discuss peace efforts amid latest escalations
BEIRUT: Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi on Monday reaffirmed Doha’s support for Lebanon during a meeting with President Joseph Aoun.
In a press conference he said that “Lebanon’s stability is a fundamental pillar for the stability of the entire region” and announced a package of economic, development and humanitarian measures.
The Qatari minister’s visit to Beirut coincided with Israeli military escalation in southern Lebanon, including the assassination of Hezbollah members by drones, incursions into the border area, and the demolition of more residences.
While the date for the meeting of the Ceasefire Monitoring Committee (Mechanism) agreement has yet to be confirmed, the US Embassy in Lebanon said in a press release on Monday that Washingt’s ambassadors to Beirut and Israel met in Jordan to discuss peace efforts through diplomacy and dialogue.
The meeting, hosted by the US Embassy in Amman last weekend, focused on the steps needed to achieve a more peaceful and prosperous region.
The visit by Qatar’s minister to Lebanon was made “upon the instructions of Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani,” according to Aoun’s media office.
“It is crucial to involve Lebanon in regional discussions, and Qatar is keen on this matter, as well as on following the situation in the country, especially the internal developments, Israeli attacks, the work of the committee, the dialogue, and efforts to find the necessary solutions,” Al-Khulaifi said.
Aoun expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Qatari minister for the visit and initiatives.
He said that the Lebanese military is carrying out its duties south of the Litani River in full, while Israeli attacks on southern villages and towns continue, destroying residential areas and displacing residents, at times extending to villages in the Bekaa Valley.
“Israel has not responded to repeated calls to abide by the agreement announced in November 2024 and implement Resolution 1701. This Israeli stance prevents the return of security and safety to the south, in addition to its repercussions on all levels,” he stated.
Aoun revealed that “contacts are ongoing before the meeting of the Mechanism committee scheduled for next month to reach practical results that will expedite the restoration of stability to the south, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of prisoners, and enable the army to deploy to the internationally recognized southern border.”
He stressed that “pressuring Israel to facilitate the work of the Mechanism committee is essential to achieving the full implementation of Resolution 1701 in all its aspects.”
Aoun also spoke about the Lebanese military’s “need for equipment, vehicles, and supplies that would enable it to carry out its required tasks not only in the south but throughout all Lebanese territory.”
Regarding relations with Syria, Aoun affirmed that the situation on the Lebanese-Syrian border is better than before, and that negotiations are ongoing between the two countries to address several issues, particularly the return of Syrian refugees.
He added that Lebanon welcomes any Arab support in general, and Qatari support in particular, to help facilitate this return.
Al-Khulaifi also met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, and in a joint press conference stressed “the necessity for all parties to adhere to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and respect the full sovereignty of the Lebanese Republic over its territory.
“We reiterate our complete condemnation of the Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory, which constitute an infringement on the sovereignty of our sister nation, Lebanon, and we emphasize the need for the Security Council to assume its responsibilities to stop these violations and to preserve Lebanon’s stability,” he said.
The minister announced a Qatar Fund for Development package — coordinated with Lebanese authorities within legal frameworks — including a $40 million grant and $360 million economic project to bolster Lebanon’s electricity sector, benefiting 1.5 million people nationwide.
Other measures include 185 scholarships over three years for Lebanese youth, the Sports for Development and Peace initiative to protect 4,400 children and young people in conflict areas, and reconstruction of Beirut’s Karantina Hospital, destroyed in the port explosion, with further health projects under review.
Qatar will also fund a $20 million first phase, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, to support the voluntary return of 100,000 Syrian refugees. It guarantees housing upon return, plus three months of food and medicine to ensure stability and social reintegration.
“We thank the Syrian government for its constructive cooperation in facilitating the implementation of this humanitarian and development project,” the minister said.
Elsewhere on Monday, the Syrian Internal Security Directorate said it thwarted an attempt to smuggle missiles and ammunition through the Syrian town of Breij into Lebanon, according to SANA.
Breij, located east of Talkalakh on the border with Lebanon’s Akkar region, is considered a smuggling hub, according to a Lebanese security source.
