Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has eliminated the so-called military training officer of the PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing, the YPG, in an operation in northern Syria, security sources announced Monday.
Muhtesim Akyürek, code-named "Serhat Serhildan," was “neutralized” in an operation in the Amuda district of the Hassakeh province as he was about to launch an attack on Turkish security forces, sources noted.
Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured. PKK/YPG terrorists hide near the Turkish border in northern Syria, where they plan or stage attacks on locals and nearby settlements in Türkiye.
MIT placed Akyürek under surveillance after field reports revealed the terrorist group, struggling to recruit coconspirators from its own base, was trying to increase its training activities to replace cadres it lost in recent months, sources informed.
New cadets obtained from Syria were to be utilized in metropolitans, and Akyürek was assigned to train them.
The terrorist first joined the PKK’s rural branch in 2015, during which he was taught the group’s ideology and given armed training. Later, he moved to Syria, where he became one of the so-called officers of armed training and attacks.
Akyürek’s elimination is sure to deal a disruptive blow to the PKK’s training activities in the region, security sources noted.
Operations against the PKK/YPG continue unimpeded, they added.
Türkiye has neutralized more than 1,180 PKK/YPG terrorists since the beginning of this year, including those hiding out across the border in Iraq and northern Syria, the National Defense Ministry said last week.
Since January, 165 harassment incidents and attacks have been carried out by the PKK/YPG terrorist group in areas of Türkiye’s counterterrorism operations, and 864 terrorists have been “neutralized” with the immediate response of Turkish soldiers.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S. and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
The YPG/PKK uses the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq as its stronghold, from where it devises and launches attacks on Türkiye and nearby cities and towns. Ankara has led intensifying efforts to crack down on YPG/PKK elements at home and abroad for years, managing to eliminate thousands of terrorists and regain territory in Türkiye’s southeast, ravaged by PKK violence for years.
Since 2016, three key cross-border operations have stamped out terrorist elements in northern Syria and Iraq to near extinction, taking out tens of thousands of PKK/YPG members and clearing large swaths of territory to resettle locals. Türkiye also launched Operation Claw-Lock last year in April to target the PKK’s hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq.
It was preceded by two operations – Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle – launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding in the north of Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye. Most recently, Ankara launched Operation Claw-Sword to decimate YPG targets in Syria in retaliation for a deadly terrorist attack in Istanbul last November.
