Four members of the terrorist group PKK infiltrating into Türkiye by paramotors were eliminated, Interior Ministry Ali Yerlikaya announced on Sunday.
The terrorists were spotted by an Akıncı unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Turkish army as it was scouting a border region with Iraq, in the southeastern Turkish province of Şırnak. A video shared by Yerlikaya on social media showed two paramotors flying over a rural area before an armed drone and assault helicopters started firing on them.
Commando and special operations teams were then dispatched to the area where they engaged in a shootout with the terrorists. Yerlikaya said the terrorists were preparing to carry out an attack in Türkiye. Security forces found four assault rifles, two Glock pistols, munitions, batteries, cell phones and other materials in possession of the terrorists.
Paramotors are convenient for terrorists seeking to infiltrate into Türkiye without being detected by flying low. Turkish forces eliminated several terrorists utilizing paramotors to cross into the country from Syria and Iraq in the past few years. Paramotors were also seized in Turkish security forces’ raids in hideouts of the group in Iraq. The terrorist group has no other aerial vehicles although a helicopter crash in Iraq has raised doubts about it. Several members of the terrorist group were killed when a French-built helicopter crashed in March 2023 in Iraq's Duhok. Among the casualties was a cousin of PKK's Syria wing YPG. It is unclear how PKK members came into possession of the helicopter while local media reported that it was owned by an Iraqi Kurdish party linked to the PKK.
The PKK, which is responsible for the killings of thousands since the 1980s in Türkiye, Iraq and Syria, faces a diminishing presence in the country thanks to effective counterterrorism operations in the southeast, where the group maintained hideouts. Its presence is now largely confined to northern regions of Iraq and Syria while increased security on the borders of both countries poses a challenge for terrorists seeking to infiltrate into Turkish territories to carry out attacks. Authorities say the number of PKK terrorists still in Türkiye is less than 500 and most are not capable of carrying out attacks. Thus, the group relies on sending members from Iraq and Syria for attacks inside Türkiye. The last major PKK attacks in the country were in Istanbul and the capital Ankara. In October 2023, terrorists injured police officers as they tried to storm into the headquarters of the Turkish National Police in Ankara before they were killed in a shootout. In 2022, six people were killed when a bomb planted by terrorists on a busy street in Istanbul went off. In both attacks, assailants infiltrated into Türkiye from Syria.
Türkiye’s counterterrorism operations long focused in rural areas of southeastern Türkiye but are now more concentrated on the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) capital of Irbil in Iraq.
The PKK has also stepped up its attacks against Iraqi targets recently. Baghdad announced last month that PKK members were behind a string of arsons in the country, including those concentrated in areas controlled by the KRG.
Türkiye's cross-border operations into northern Iraq have been a source of tension with its southeastern neighbor for years. Ankara has asked Iraq for more cooperation in combating the PKK, and Baghdad has banned the group from operating in the country, ordered all state institutions to refer to the PKK as a banned group in official correspondence and set up two military bases in the Zakho region in April, which borders southern Türkiye. Turkish and Iraqi officials convened in the capital Ankara last week. Two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on security, military and counterterrorism cooperation, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Thursday after two days of high-level security talks in the capital.
“We are going to raise our cooperation to the highest level thanks to joint command and training centers included in this agreement," Fidan said after meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein.
Fidan said Ankara and Baghdad aim to materialize a mutual understanding of counterterrorism efforts by taking concrete steps.
The landmark pact envisages the establishment of permanent committees for cooperation in necessary fields, which would boost ties in trade, energy, water, transportation and education.
Fidan also welcomed “Iraq’s growing awareness about the PKK.”
