Turkish counterterrorism operations have destroyed a dozen hideouts, bunkers and depots used by the PKK terrorist group in a total of 16 cities, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Thursday.
Raids dubbed “Gürz” have destroyed hideouts the PKK has prepared to use as bases for its attacks in rural regions across southeastern provinces like Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Hakkari and Van, according to the minister.
“Air-backed Gürz operations, conducted by gendarmerie forces, intelligence officers, commandos and security rangers, continue around the clock in both cities and rural regions toward our ‘terror-free Türkiye’ goal,” Yerlikaya said.
With no shelter in urban locations, the PKK takes advantage of mountainous territories in Türkiye’s southeast, where its members spend the winter in remote caves.
Security forces also seized 5 kilograms of explosives, a Dragunov semi-automatic sniper rifle, 24 grenades, four Kalashnikov rifles, two RPF-7 rocket launchers, a M16 rifle, a grenade thrower, 86 rocket launcher munitions, set-ups for eight improvised explosive devices, five binoculars and 8,903 units of munitions, weapons and explosives of various sizes and scales.
Turkish security forces regularly conduct counterterrorism operations in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Türkiye, where the PKK has attempted to establish a stronghold in its four-decade campaign of terror.
Raids destroyed a total of 709 PKK hideouts in 2024, according to official figures.
The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 to achieve a so-called Kurdish self-rule in southeastern regions and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, as well as the United States and the European Union.
PKK violence was initially raging in rural regions of southeastern Türkiye, but the terrorists have moved a large chunk of operations to northern Iraq since 2019 after successive Turkish operations. However, the group still has operatives within the country.
The PKK terrorists have their headquarters in Qandil, which sits roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil, the capital of northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) administered region.
Türkiye has, over the past 25 years, operated several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its war against the PKK and has been conducting airstrikes as part of “Claw” operations since 2022 to demolish terrorist lairs and prevent the formation of a terror corridor along its borders.
Until recently, Iraq has said the operations violate its sovereignty, but Ankara says it is protecting its borders where it intends to establish a 30-40 kilometer security corridor.
In August, the neighbors agreed to military cooperation, namely joint training and operation centers, against the terrorists, months after Baghdad declared the PKK a banned organization.
Türkiye, however, wants Iraq to recognize the PKK as a terrorist group fully.
