PKK: Ghost haunts Erdogan in 40 Turkish cities

Turkish President Recep Erdogan continues his efforts to tighten his grip on his opponents, as arrest campaigns continue in Turkey on an almost weekly basis, nearly three years after the coup attempt. Turkish police arrested 718 people, including leaders of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) that supports the Kurds, on suspicion of their association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), to which Ankara attributed the execution of 13 Turks in Iraq, according to the Ministry of Interior.

The HDP is the second largest opposition group in the Turkish parliament, and since 2016, the government has imprisoned hundreds of mayors and other party officials under the pretext that they have links with the PKK.

The Turkish Interior Ministry stated that "a large number of weapons, documents and digital materials belonging to the (terrorist) organization were confiscated during the raids."

AFP quoted the ministry as saying that the operations included 40 cities in the country and are still continuing.

Earlier, Erdogan accused the United States of supporting "terrorists" after 13 Turks were executed in Iraq. Turkey accuses the PKK of being behind the executions.

In a speech, Erdogan said, "The statements of the United States are regrettable. You say that you do not support the terrorists, but you are in fact standing by them."

The US State Department announced that it "regrets the killing of Turkish citizens," noting that it is awaiting additional confirmation about what Ankara has announced regarding the circumstances of their deaths.

The Turkish forces are launching a military operation in the Kara region and the Dohuk suburbs in northern Iraq, which is an extension of Operation Eagle Claw that they started last June inside Iraqi territory to pursue PKK fighters with the participation of commandos and support from fighter aircraft.

Earlier, the Turkish Ministry of Defense had announced the killing of five PKK militants and the families of two.

The ministry said in a statement posted on its Twitter account that "48 terrorists have been neutralized", including leaders, with two families, since the start of the second phase of Operation Eagle Claw, and that the operation was completed.

For its part, the PKK has accused Turkey of misinformation, and said that the Turkish army had killed 30 in Kara, in addition to the injury of dozens of others, according to Kurdish media.

The continuing repression practices against the Turkish opposition come at a time when the popularity of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is eroding as a result of its failed policies in managing the country, which reduces its chances of winning an overwhelming majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The Turkish president has been waging a systematic campaign for years to liquidate his political opponents under the pretext of supporting a terrorist organization, an accusation he uses to dismiss local officials.

The PKK, founded by Abdullah Ocalan, and which is blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies as a terrorist group, has waged a revolt against the Turkish state since 1984, killing tens of thousands.

More than 40,000 people in the PKK have died in the conflict, which is mostly raging in southeast Turkey.

In Turkey, there has been a recent increase in the crackdowns and turnout in the municipal elections that were held in March 2020, according to opinion polls that showed that most of the electoral defaulters were supporters of the Republican People's Party (CHP), the most prominent opposition party, because Erdogan's party pursued a repressive policy that forced them to abstain from voting.