Greek security services raided Athens apartments and found bomb-making equipment on Tuesday, and detained nine people on suspected links to a leftist militant group outlawed in Turkey, ahead of an anticipated visit by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
“So far nine people have been detained. They are Afghans and Kurds based on their identity papers. Police found jars containing unspecified explosive material and cables to connect to detonators and laptops,” a police official told Reuters.
A second police official confirmed authorities were probing links to DHKP/C, an outlawed group blamed for a string of attacks and suicide bombings in Turkey since 1990.
Eight men and a woman were being questioned after the early-morning sweep by anti-terror police at three addresses in two Athens neighborhoods.
Another official told the semi-official Athens News Agency that the case was unconnected to domestic terror groups or militant Islamists, and described those questioned as being of Turkish origin.
