Turkish security forces "neutralized" seven more PKK terrorists in northern Iraq and Syria, the National Defense Ministry said on Friday, as Ankara intensifies its crackdown at home and abroad.
Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
Five of the terrorists were taken down by armed drones in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, the ministry noted in a statement.
The other two YPG/PKK terrorists were targeted in the Operation Euphrates Shield zone in northern Syria, the ministry added.
PKK terrorists often hide out across the border in northern Iraq and Syria to plot terror attacks in Türkiye.
Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock last year in April to target the PKK terror group's hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, located near the Turkish border.
It was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.
In a drone-backed domestic operation, Turkish police detained four PKK suspects in the southern Mersin province. Pistols, unauthorized rifles and digital materials were seized in the citywide raids.
The suspects were wanted for their role in social media propaganda and street rallies between 2015 and 2016 in Mersin, authorities said.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, Britain and the European Union – is responsible for over 40,000 civilian and security personnel deaths in Türkiye during an almost four-decadelong campaign of terror.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq.
Ankara maintains dozens of military bases there, and it regularly launches operations against the PKK, which operates a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil province, although the area is under de jure control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Türkiye also battles the YPG, the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, in northern Syria.
Turkish strikes targeting PKK/YPG hideouts in both Syria and Iraq have intensified since a terrorist attack by the PKK in the capital, Ankara, on Oct. 1 when one terrorist blew himself up in front of the headquarters of the Turkish National Police.
Since the start of this year, as many as 1,976 PKK/YPG terrorists have been eliminated, the national defense ministry said Thursday, including 49 targeted last week.
Since January, the terrorist group has been behind 461 incidents and attacks in areas of Türkiye's counterterrorism operations, and 1,408 terrorists have been "neutralized" through an immediate response by Turkish soldiers, the ministry said.
