Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has killed Halil Menci, a member of the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing, the YPG, in Syria, media outlets reported on Friday.
Menci was among the masterminds of the Istiklal Street attack in Istanbul on Nov. 13, 2022, killing six people and injuring dozens of others.
Security sources said a “precision operation” took place in Qamishli in northern Syria on Feb. 22. Sources said Menci was in close contact with fellow YPG/PKK members and was protected by the terrorist group in Qamishli. Qamishli is one of the places controlled by the terrorist group. Turkish intelligence personnel has been running surveillance for a while on Menci.
An earlier investigation has revealed that Menci guided Ahlam Albashir, the terrorist who left explosives at the scene of the attack, and her accomplice Bilal Hassan and organized the latter’s escape from Türkiye after the attack.
After the attack, Türkiye launched aerial operations against the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq. At the same time, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan implied that a ground operation to clear Syria’s north of terrorist groups threatening Türkiye was also on the table to remove Syria’s north of terrorist groups Türkiye. However, PKK/YPG terrorists have responded to Turkish operations by firing rockets at a Turkish town on the border with Syria, killing two people, including a young boy and a teacher.
Prosecutors say Albashir, Hassan, and a suspect arrested in Syria’s Azaz stayed together at a textile workshop in Istanbul and planned the attack there. Other suspects, including two brothers identified as Ahmed J. and Bakar J., are accused of helping Albashir to hide after the attack.
According to the investigation, Albashir confessed that she entered Türkiye illegally from the Syrian city of Afrin after receiving operative intelligence training from the PKK/YPG terrorist group. In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
An indictment against suspects asks for seven instances of aggravated life imprisonment for Albashir and Bilal Hassan, along with additional prison terms of up to 9,000 years for each victim and act of terrorism. Cemil Bayık, one of PKK’s fugitive senior figures, also faces the same prison terms.
