The Syrian extension of the PKK terrorist organization, the YPG, executed three of its members who were looking to escape the terror group and surrender to Turkish forces, security sources said on Friday.
The terrorists killed were Çetin Süer, Sedat Süer and Fuat Balcak, who were members of the YPG's network in Syria's northern Derik region, said the sources, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
To justify the executions, the terror group accused them of being spies, the sources added.
According to Turkish officials, the PKK terror group – battered and demoralized by Turkish security forces' successful operations – has been losing members and failing to attract new ones.
A total of 74 PKK terrorists have surrendered so far this year.
In Türkiye, offenders linked to terror groups who surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.
A significant number of suspected terrorists have begun to abandon the PKK terrorist group and surrender, but many terrorists lack the courage to leave out of fear of severe punishment if caught.
Protests by a group of families in front of the pro-PKK Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) office in Diyarbakır demanding the return of their sons and daughters, who were recruited or kidnapped to fight for the terrorist group, have also helped increase the number of people surrendering.
Calls made by the families to their children urging them to return home and surrender, as well as the persuasion efforts by security forces, have been influential.
For more than 40 years, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
