Security forces raided caves, bunkers and shelters used by the PKK terrorist group in rural parts of Türkiye, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Friday.
A total of 76 caves and “accommodation spaces” were destroyed in an operation nicknamed “Gürz,” Yerlikaya said on X.
The air-backed raids were carried out by 315 teams of 3,996 gendarmerie personnel in 12 provinces, including Şırnak, Hakkari, Kars, Siirt, Van, Diyarbakır, Bitlis and Hatay. Most of them are provinces where the PKK has concentrated its attacks since its inception in the 1980s.
The minister said operations focused on finding and destroying weapons and munitions stored in PKK hideouts. With no shelter in urban locations, the PKK takes advantage of mountainous territories in Türkiye’s southeast where its members spend winter in remote caves.
Authorities seized 102 missiles, 132 mortar and propelling cartridges, 191 pieces of RPG-7 rocket launcher ammunition, 2,604 detonators, 165 hand grenades, 2,156 kilograms of living materials, as well as 6,237 units of ammunition and many other weapons and explosives during the raids.
“All hideouts used by the terrorist group for logistics and attacks are discovered and destroyed one by one,” Yerlikaya said.
The Defense Ministry also announced Friday that a total of 12 terrorists were eliminated in northern Iraq.
Terrorists from the PKK and other groups, such as its Syrian wing, the YPG, and Daesh, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye.
Ankara boasts of having suffered no major terrorist attacks on Turkish soil since 2016.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq, including a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.
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.
Ankara has asked Iraq for more cooperation in combating the PKK, and Baghdad labeled the group a banned organization in March.
Ankara plans a new swoop in on the PKK militants this summer and says Iraqi cooperation is paramount to eradicating the group "at its roots."
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.
