Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has said there are currently 466 counterterrorism operations ongoing across the country in connection to a suicide bombing in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Yerlikaya said the operations were targeting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community.
The PKK, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, claimed responsibility for the attack that took place outside the interior ministry.
The powerful explosion, which was followed by a fire, was heard several kilometers from the scene of the attack.
The targeted district is home to several other ministries and the Turkish parliament, which reopened as planned on Sunday afternoon with an address from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
A total of 67 suspects had been detained as of Tuesday morning in police raids across several cities. Yerlikaya said the operations would continue until the last terrorist was caught.
Counterterrorism operations have been ongoing since the attack, and 20 members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including provincial spokespeople and district chairs, were detained in raids.
Staff from the HDP’s Istanbul office had gathered to make a statement in front of their building but were met by the police.
Members of the HDP and other pro-Kurdish parties are frequently accused by Turkish authorities of links to the PKK although they deny the claim. The HDP has a pending closure case at the Constitutional Court due to its alleged links to terrorism.
