Ankara: The police in Turkey have detained 14 men for their alleged link with a banned outfit operating in the country`s east, the media reported on Friday.
The men are members of the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H), believed to be an affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers` Party (PKK), Xinhua reported citing Today`s Zaman.
The police detained the men after simultaneous operations in various towns of Erzincan province early Friday.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and other countries, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland for the Kurds in southeast Turkey. Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group.
The Turkish authorities started peace negotiations with the PKK in 2012, which led to a ceasefire in March 2013. But its fighters started returning to their strongholds in northern Iraq in May 2013.
