2 YPG/PKK terrorists neutralized in northern Syria

Two YPG/PKK terrorists planning to carry out attacks against Turkish troops in the Operation Peace Spring area have been neutralized, the Defense Ministry said Friday.

Turkish commandoes neutralized the terrorists in an operation and will continue to carry out counterterrorism operations in the region, the ministry said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Turkish authorities generally use the word "neutralized" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Turkey's Operation Peace Spring cleared terrorists from more than 4,300 square kilometers in northern Syria, according to Foreign Ministry figures.

Turkey on Oct. 9 launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate YPG terrorists from the area east of the Euphrates river in northern Syria to secure Turkey's borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria's territorial integrity.

As part of two separate deals with the U.S. and Russia, Turkey paused the operation to allow the withdrawal of YPG/PKK terrorists from the planned northern Syria safe zone.

The deal with Moscow, reached on Oct. 22, specified that security forces from Turkey and Russia would mount joint patrols in the area within 30 kilometers south of Turkey's border.

The PKK — listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union — has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, resulting in the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Turkey has long decried the threat from terrorists east of the Euphrates in northern Syria, pledging military action to prevent the formation of a "terrorist corridor" there.

Since 2016, Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for nearly 400,000 Syrians who fled the violence to return home.