Türkiye Detains 98 Over Alleged Kurdish Militant Links 

New Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stands during a press conference where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the new cabinet, in Ankara, Türkiye June 3, 2023. (Reuters)
New Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stands during a press conference where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the new cabinet, in Ankara, Türkiye June 3, 2023. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Detains 98 Over Alleged Kurdish Militant Links 

New Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stands during a press conference where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the new cabinet, in Ankara, Türkiye June 3, 2023. (Reuters)
New Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stands during a press conference where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the new cabinet, in Ankara, Türkiye June 3, 2023. (Reuters)

Turkish police on Monday detained 98 suspects over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, most of them on a charge of spreading PKK propaganda on social media, the interior ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry said the suspects were detained in simultaneous operations across 18 provinces, with most of the detentions being in southeastern regions.

The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, United States, and Türkiye, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Ankara frequently carries out cross-border airstrikes and operations against the PKK, which has bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. It also regularly conducts operations against people linked to it domestically.

In recent weeks, Türkiye has intensified attacks on Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, as well as against its members in the country, after militants detonated a bomb near government buildings in Ankara on Oct. 1.

Separately, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on social messaging platform X that authorities had destroyed 63 shelters, caves, and storage units used by PKK militants in six provinces.

"The shelters that the terrorist organization prepared to be used for logistical purposes and to carry out acts in the winter months have been identified and destroyed one by one," Yerlikaya said, adding several weapons, ammunition, and equipment had been seized in the raids.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.