By Xinhua
Ankara : Turkish police on Saturday arrested five members of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in the largest city of Istanbul, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
According to a statement by the Anti-Terror Department, police detained the five PKK members who were preparing for bomb attacks against public institutions in their operations in Bahcelievler, Zeytinburnu and Uskudar districts of Istanbul.
The detainees had staged seven bomb attacks in the past in workplaces and vehicles in order to disturb public order.
Police seized a bomb mechanism, equipment used to make bombs, and organizational documents during their operations.
Turkey has been fighting with the PKK, which took up arms against the country in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.
More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict between the Turkish army and the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States.