Security sources said on Thursday that Yayla Kızılkaya, who led a “women’s unit” within the PKK/YPG terrorist group, was eliminated in an operation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of Türkiye. The operation took place in Syria’s Qamishli, a stronghold of the group in the country’s northeast.
Kızılkaya, also known as Nesrin Amed, joined the group at the age of 14 and has been active in Türkiye, Iraq and Syria. Recently, she was assigned to lead the group’s women’s unit in Syria. Sources said she was also involved in the recruitment of new members of the PKK's Syrian wing YPG.
Sources stated that MIT has been running a surveillance operation on Kızılkaya and launched the operation to eliminate her when “circumstances were right.”
MIT stepped up its operations against terrorist groups abroad in recent years. The counterterrorism operations primarily target the PKK and its affiliates. They concentrate on the northern parts of Türkiye's neighbors, Syria and Iraq, where the terrorist group exploits a security vacuum to operate freely. Turkish intelligence generally carries out precision airstrikes, employing drones, but occasionally, they bring in terrorist suspects alive.
Also on Thursday, security sources said a terrorist who was active in Syria surrendered himself to security forces. The terrorist, identified as M.A., joined the group in 2018 and traveled to Syria in 2019, where he commanded a group of terrorists in Qamishli, Hassakeh and Ain al-Arab (also known as Kobani), all strongholds of the PKK/YPG.
Sources said intelligence officers from gendarmerie forces in Şanlıurfa in southeastern Türkiye, which is located across Syrian towns occupied by the PKK/YPG, persuaded M.A. to turn himself in. M.A. fled the group and surrendered on the border.
