Dozens of people were detained on Monday in Turkey for their suspected links to the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an alleged urban wing of the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), the local newspaper Today’s Zaman reported on its website.

In Monday’s operations carried out in nine provinces, Turkish police raided the office premises of several related organizations, including the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions, the Trade Union of Public Employees in Health and Social Services and All Municipal and Local Administration Workers’ Union.

The Ankara police’ counter-terror teams arrested six people in the Turkish capital Ankara, and 20 others in Izmir and Gaziantep as part of the investigation, said the report.

Meanwhile, according to a statement from Batman governor’s office, 24 people suspected of acting for KCK were also detained in the province.

The statement, released on Monday, added that the detainees are alleged to have thrown Molotov cocktails and participated in illegal demonstrations in the province.

The KCK investigation started in December 2009. Since then, a large number of KCK members, including several mayors of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (BDP), have been detained.

BDP officials say the investigation is the government’s way of suppressing its politicians and deny any links between the detained suspects and terrorist organizations.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.