Türkiye has eliminated another group of terrorists belonging to the PKK’s Syrian wing, the YPG, across its border in northern Syria, the Defense Ministry announced Thursday.
Some 12 terrorists who were preparing an attack to disrupt peace and security in areas where Operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch are being conducted have been eliminated, the ministry informed.
“Our Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) continue their determined fight against terrorists around the clock,” it added.
Ankara launched Operation Euphrates Shield in 2016, its first cross-border operation into northern Syria, to decimate terrorist organizations threatening its safety, targeting Daesh and the PKK/YPG. As part of the operation, Turkish forces have so far eliminated thousands of PKK/YPG terrorists in the region.
Euphrates Shield was followed by Olive Branch in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019, toward the same purpose of quashing the terror corridor the groups have been trying to establish alongside Türkiye’s southern border, bringing peace to the region and facilitating the safe return of displaced locals.
The PKK – designated as a terrorist organization in the United States, the European Union and Türkiye – has been waging a bloody terrorist campaign against the country for four decades, attacking both security personnel and civilians. It has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people since 1984, with its massacres peaking especially in the 1990s.
Since the forces of Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad withdrew in 2012, the PKK/YPG has been controlling much of northeastern Syria, prompting Türkiye to lead an intense counteroffensive both at home and in the region.
Most recently in November 2022, Ankara kicked off Operation Claw-Sword, another cross-border aerial campaign, to target the PKK/YPG in response to a terrorist attack in Istanbul’s bustling Istiklal Street on Nov. 13 that left six dead and 81 injured.
Following the operation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also signaled a ground operation in northern Syria and northern Iraq, where the terrorists also maintain hideouts and considerable territory. He specified northern Syria's YPG-controlled Tal Rifaat, Manbij and Ain al-Arab (also known as Kobani) regions as possible targets to clear terrorists. He had been threatening a new military operation in the region since May and upped those threats in the wake of the Istiklal attack.
Erdoğan has repeatedly called for a 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) safe zone to protect Türkiye against cross-border attacks from Syrian territory. As 2022 came to a close, the Turkish leader reiterated his promise of “closing the gaps” in the security strip, noting that Türkiye would “enter a new phase of struggle that will destroy the infrastructure and resources of the terrorist group, where it derives strength from, as well as its ability to launch armed attacks.”
Türkiye increased the number of its counterterrorism operations to 124 and destroyed nearly 9,800 terrorist hideouts throughout 2022. The most recent figures announced by the Interior Ministry also revealed Türkiye carried out over 130,000 operations and destroyed over 1,100 hideouts and shelters in rural parts of the country.
The number of PKK/YPG terrorists within Turkish borders too decreased to below 120 in 2022, the ministry informed, as a total of 87 high-ranking figures of the terrorist groups were neutralized.
Incidents of terrorism dropped by 21% compared to 2021, while 125 members of the PKK were convinced by authorities to surrender in 2022. The ministry reported that the number of people joining the PKK also dropped as compared to past years.
