3 PKK suspects remanded in custody in southern Turkey

By Eren Bozkurt and Kemal Karagoz

ADANA/ADIYAMAN, Turkey

Three suspects have been remanded in custody for their links with the PKK terror group after police carried out a counter-terror operation in southern Turkey, according to a police source Thursday.

The suspects were accused of killing 33-year-old Ethem Turkben, a father of three children, after entering his house in Adana province’s Seyhan district in 2015, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.

Turkben was killed when the PKK terrorists assumed him to be a Daesh member because of his long beard and conservative nature, the source added.

Separately, police arrested a PKK suspect in eastern Adiyaman province.

In western Edirne province, police also caught two PKK suspects while they attempted to cross into neighboring Greece.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015.

Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of more than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including a number of women and children.