Update 2 - Istanbul Police Launch Anti-Terror Raids

A dozen suspected militants have been remanded in custody following anti-terror raids across Istanbul early on Tuesday morning, police said.



Of 23 suspects arrested in the raids, police earlier identified three as being linked to the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).



Later, 10 were identified as suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) while eight are accused of being Daesh extremists. The remaining two are said to belong to the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLK-P).



The raids on 13 addresses in Istanbul's Sultangazi, Gaziosmanpasa and Bagcilar neighborhoods were backed by helicopters and saw firearms, fireworks, petrol bombs and documents seized, police said.



Aside from the 12 detained by an Istanbul court, four were released, two sent to be deported and the other five are still being processed.



Police said all the suspects had been preparing to carry out an unspecified mission when they were arrested. Further arrests are expected, according to police.



All four groups are designated terrorist organizations in Turkey.



Daesh is thought to be responsible for a suicide bomb attack on pro-Kurdish activists in Suruc last month that killed 32 people.



The other three are all left-wing groups with the PKK being the most prominent among them. It has fought a bloody insurgency against Turkey since 1984 and, alongside Daesh, has been the target of recent airstrikes by the Turkish air force.



The DHKP-C, like the PKK, is considered a terror group by the EU and U.S., and was most active during the Cold War era. This year it claimed responsibility for an attempted grenade attack on police guarding Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace and  its members killed a senior prosecutor in Istanbul in March.



The MLK-P has strong ties to the PKK and has reportedly sent members to fight alongside Kurdish forces in Syria and Iraq. - Ankara