A PKK terrorist, who had been active in the organization for 20 years, recently surrendered to Turkish security forces following persuasion efforts, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

This raised the number of surrendered terrorist members to 216 since the beginning of the year, the ministry said in a written statement.

The dissolution of the PKK has accelerated due to Turkey's successful counterterrorism operations and strategies both at home and abroad.

In recent years, Turkey has seen record numbers of PKK terrorists giving themselves up in the face of some determined domestic and cross-border anti-terror operations.

According to some former terrorists, PKK ringleaders risk the lives of others to save their own and threaten those planning to surrender with torture.

The PKK is recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Its terror campaign against Turkey has lasted more than 30 years.