ISTANBUL
Anti-terror police have detained 19 people in raids across Turkey on Wednesday, two days after a deadly suicide bombing and gun attack in Istanbul.
Security sources said that simultaneous raids took place in the capital Ankara, Istanbul, southern Hatay province near the Syrian border and Kirikkale province in central Anatolia.
Thirteen people were detained in Ankara and police were looking for three others, sources said, adding that the operation was specifically targeting Daesh militants.
In Istanbul, police moved early Wednesday to pursue suspected supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Kucukcekmece district.
Six people were taken into custody in the raids, which were backed up by helicopters and water cannon.
Dozens of rounds of ammunition, organizational documents and three unlicensed guns were seized in the operation which was conducted on 15 different locations in the district.
The suspects were accused of holding unauthorized demonstrations in support of the PKK and throwing Molotov cocktails at some premises and vehicles.
The PKK claimed responsibility for Monday's suicide bombing and a subsequent armed attack on a police station in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul. One policeman died and at least 10 people, including three police officers, were wounded in the attack.
Shots were also fired at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul in an attack claimed by an armed ultra-leftist group called the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).
Since July 24, around 1,600 people have been arrested in a wave of counter-terrorism raids, amid a spike in attacks targeting police and the army after a July 20 deadly suicide bombing in the southeastern Suruc district which killed 32 civilians.
Police have been carrying out nationwide anti-terror operations to apprehend suspected PKK, Daesh, and DHKP-C militants – all three are designated terrorist organizations in Turkey.
