PKK figure caught in Sweden

STOCKHOLM – Doğan News Agency

AFP photo



The suspect, whose identity has been kept secret, was detained at Arlanda Airport during passport check as he was about to board a plane from Stockholm to Turkey on April 13.



The suspect, a Turkish citizen, had been the subject of a red notice by the German Federal Prosecution Office since 2014 for allegedly being one of the senior figures of the organization in Germany between 2012 and 2014.



Arlanda Airport Police Spokesman Anders Nilsson confirmed the reports on the detention of the suspect. The suspect, who was born in 1980, was detained at 8:30 a.m. and was interrogated, Nilsson added.



Meanwhile, Cemil Ateş, another PKK figure for whom the Interior Ministry had offered 1 million Turkish Liras for any information leading to him, was killed in the Hasköy district of the eastern province of Muş during operations on April 12 and 13.



Ateş’s M-16 weapon, five chargers and a long-range walkie-talkie he used to talk to Kandil, where the PKK’s headquarters are in northern Iraq, were also seized in the operation.



Meanwhile, counter-terrorism operations against the PKK were conducted in Istanbul’s Esenyurt, Gaziosmanpaşa and Esenler districts.



The police, with support from special operations police, conducted simultaneous operations at predetermined addresses in three districts, detaining six suspects. Searches were carried out in suspects’ houses and other areas.



The suspects were brought to police headquarters in Istanbul’s Fatih district after security checks.



An alleged senior figure of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that was the subject of an international arrest warrant has been caught by police in Stockholm.