Mazlum Öztürk, code-named "Berxwedan Çiyager," was the latest target of Turkish intelligence’s counterterrorism operations abroad. The member of the PKK terrorist group was “neutralized” in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah, security sources said Wednesday. The term "neutralized" is used to describe terrorists captured dead or alive.
Security sources said the PKK, weakened by Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) operations in Iraq and Syria, where terrorists holed up, sought to recruit more members and move its current members from exposed locations. MIT discovered that Öztürk traveled to Europe from Türkiye in August 2022 and attended activities of an organization affiliated with the terrorist group, including a sit-in strike outside the Council of Europe building in October 2022. After spending some time in France, he left the European country in January 2023 for Iraq. There, he underwent training for future assassination plots against Turkish security forces. The Turkish intelligence located him in a rural part of Sulaymaniyah and launched an operation.
Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s north has been among the locations where PKK terrorists hideout. Earlier this month, the Turkish Foreign Ministry highlighted the city among the training grounds of PKK after Iraq accused Türkiye of an attack on an airport in Sulaymaniyah. The ministry said in a statement that a “drone attack” Baghdad claims was conducted by Türkiye in Sulaymaniyah revealed that members of the PKK terrorist group were training with a group affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) active in the region controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“We closely monitor the terrorist activities of the PKK and its extensions in Iraq, which were intensified especially in the north of the country, as well as the mobility through the terror corridor established between Syria and Iraq. In this vein, the developments related to the explosion that took place on Sept. 18, 2023, at Arbat Airport in Sulaymaniyah are noteworthy. It is understood that the members of the PUK’s ‘Anti-Terrorist Group’ were conducting a training exercise together with PKK/YPG terrorists at the time of the explosion. This development is quite disturbing as it has clearly revealed the cooperation between the PUK’s security apparatus and members of the terrorist organization,” the ministry said in its statement. “This latest incident has also confirmed once again the accuracy of the measures we have taken regarding Sulaymaniyah, the people who are almost taken hostage by the terrorist organization. Türkiye expects both the central government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government to recognize the PKK terrorist group and its affiliates as terrorist organizations and to sincerely and tangibly combat terrorism,” the statement said.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Iraq, including Baghdad and the KRG region, last month in his first visit since his appointment and has voiced Türkiye’s call for the PKK’s recognition as a terrorist group. “We must not allow the PKK terrorist organization, which is a common enemy of Türkiye and Iraq, to poison our bilateral relations,” Fidan said at a news conference in August with his Iraqi counterpart.
“We cannot accept the PKK challenging the sovereignty of Iraq,” he added. Fidan said that the territorial integrity, political unity and sovereignty of Iraq are one of Türkiye’s priorities. “Sinjar, Makhmour, Qandil, Sulaymaniyah and many other Iraqi districts have been occupied by the PKK terrorist group.”
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Türkiye supports Iraq’s fight against the PKK terrorist organization, Fidan said. “We are ready to collaborate with Iraq in the fight against all forms of terrorist organizations, whether it’s the PKK or Daesh, regardless of their names. “These groups, aiming to undermine Iraq’s territorial integrity and political unity, are targeting the stability and prosperity of our Iraqi brothers and committing crimes against humanity,” he added.
Ankara maintains dozens of military bases in northern Iraq, where it regularly launches operations against the group, which holds a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains. In the last few years, intensifying operations in the region have demolished terrorist lairs in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara. After eradicating the group’s influence in these regions, Türkiye also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour. Türkiye’s military involvement in northern Iraq dates back over two decades, separately from its operations against the PKK, and also included the war against the Daesh terrorist group, which controlled much of the area, in 2014 and 2015, when Ankara was an ally in the U.S.-led anti-Daesh campaign. The terrorist group has been more active in Syria after a civil war broke out over a decade ago. YPG terrorists control areas near the Syrian-Iraqi border, and unconfirmed reports say they secretly travel between the two countries.
