Turkish Police Detain 38 People Suspected Of Attack On COVID-19 Social Workers

Turkish Police Detain 38 People Suspected of Attack on COVID-19 Social Workers

Turkish police in the eastern province of Van detained on Friday 38 suspects in a deadly attack on members of a social support group helping senior citizens during the coronavirus pandemic, the local administration said

ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2020) Turkish police in the eastern province of Van detained on Friday 38 suspects in a deadly attack on members of a social support group helping senior citizens during the coronavirus pandemic, the local administration said.

On Thursday, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said that that two social workers had been killed and another injured in an armed attack by terrorists as they returned from nearby villages in the Ozalp district of Van after helping those in need. The authorities blamed the attack on members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated by Ankara as a terrorist group.

"As part of the investigation of this crime, the provincial security forces raided numerous addresses, and 38 people have been detained. Among them is the head of the [pro-Kurdish] Peoples' Democratic Party in the city of Ozalp and five more of its functionaries. The investigation is underway," the statement read.

Turkey has long been fighting the PKK, which seeks to establish a Kurdish autonomy in the country. Though the PKK and Ankara signed a ceasefire agreement in 2013, it collapsed just two years later over several terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK militants.