National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced Saturday evening that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) had eliminated 340 members of the U.S.-backed PKK and its Syrian offshoot YPG in the last three months. Akar was using a term to indicate the terrorists in question were killed, injured or captured alive, though the term mostly refers to the first party in most cases.
"We are determined and able to save our nation from this trouble that has plagued our noble country for 40 years. We are determined to neutralize terrorists, regardless of who is behind them, whether they provide weapons, helicopters, ammunition or money," Akar said Saturday in southern Hatay province.
He said Ankara's only target is the terrorism threatening the country's borders and national security.
In its 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Earlier, the Defense Ministry announced that at least four PKK terrorists who escaped from a terror camp in northern Iraq surrendered to Turkish security forces.
The terrorists laid down their arms at a Turkish frontier control post in southeastern Şırnak province, a statement by the ministry said. The only way out for the terrorists is to surrender to justice, it added.
PKK terrorists have hideouts across the Turkish border in northern Iraq, which they use to plot attacks on Türkiye. As a result, Türkiye has carried out a series of offensives to clear the region of terrorists.
