ANKARA, Turkey, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Members of a pro-Kurdish political party in Turkey were taken into custody following attacks tied to the militant PKK, official sources announced.
One soldier was killed and two others were wounded during clashes with the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, the official Anatolia news agency reported. The attack took place in the Black Sea province of Ordu.
Authorities investigating the raid said they arrested 22 people, including top provincial officials in the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP.
A move to settle simmering issues with the Kurdish minority was upended last year in part when a court in December banned the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, from politics.
A constitutional court ruled to disband DTP and barred 37 members from politics for five years because of allegations of ties to the PKK. Several members of the DTP moved closer to BDP in the wake of the court-mandated ban.
The PKK has stepped up its attacks in recent weeks, targeting several military installations. Iranian and Turkish officials agreed last week to share intelligence information on Kurdish guerrillas operating in the border regions.
