Turkish authorities have detained 72 people, including lawyers and doctors, in sweeping anti-terrorism raids on Friday, the state news agency, Anadolu, has reported.
The 72 are among the 101 suspects whom prosecutors seek to detain.
The suspects are accused of having links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a designated terrorist group, Anadolu said.
They are also accused of membership of the so-called legislative branch of the PKK which has waged a decade-long insurgency in Turkey.
In pre-dawn raids, police searched the suspects’ apartments in Istanbul, Izmir and the south-eastern cities of Diyarbakir and Adiyaman, the report said.
Police confiscated unlicensed pistols, digital documents and banned books at the apartments and are searching for the 25 remaining suspects, according to the report.
Turkey routinely targets alleged PKK supporters and earlier this month, 26 school teachers were detained in Diyarbakir for alleged PKK ties. (dpa)
