Swedish citizen detained over suspected PKK links in Turkey

The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey, and the European Union, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Turkish authorities have detained a Swedish citizen over suspected links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, police said on Wednesday.

Turkish police and intelligence determined that the 46-year-old had visited Turkey to conduct meetings with PKK affiliated people and had organized gatherings and activities for the organization in Sweden, the police said.

The detained individual is of Turkish origin, it said.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey, and the European Union, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. Violence in the largely Kurdish southeast has escalated since the collapse of a ceasefire in 2015.

Turkey has in recent months conducted strikes on PKK bases in northern Iraq, especially the insurgents' stronghold in the Qandil mountains, where Ankara has also threatened to carry out a ground offensive. 

(With inputs from agencies.)