Turkey examines PKK hacker ring

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, March 11 (UPI) -- Turkish police rounded up more than 20 suspects in 13 provinces on allegations of computer hacking and ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Police in the predominately Kurdish city of Diyarbakir launched operations in the region Wednesday, arresting 24 suspected members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

The suspects were allegedly tied to a computer-hacking ring operating under the name Code Attack Team. Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet said the team took orders from PKK leaders in Iraq and Europe.

German, Italian and Belgian authorities rounded up scores of suspected PKK militants in recent weeks because of recruitment efforts at alleged training camps.

Hacker teams were reported to have sent e-mail containing Power Point presentations that warned recipients that all of the information on their computer was deleted.

Ankara in 2009 tried to find a political solution to the PKK issue, though that effort was upended when a Turkish court banned a pro-Kurdish party from power.

The measure was met with riots in southern Turkey.

The PKK measure has been largely overshadowed by allegations of a military coup in Ankara.