Racketeers who are part of the terrorist group PKK in southeastern provinces and districts of Turkey have been found to have exploited civilians through different scams and practices, Environment and Urban Planning Minister Mehmet Özhaseki said recently.

According to an article published in the Hürriyet daily, the minister claimed that the government has discovered the PKK's tactic of ripping off people by using legal expropriation decisions.

"We have images and documents [proving the illegal activities]. We have discovered the scheme," Özhaseki was quoted as saying in a conversation in Parliament.

Defending the trustees appointed by the government in municipalities that were allegedly aiding and abetting the PKK, the minister said such municipality authority figures must be dismissed.

Meanwhile, a counterterror operation was launched in Ankara yesterday to detain 11 PKK suspects. Arrest warrants for two further suspected terrorists were also issued.

9 PKK terrorists killed in airstrikes

At least nine PKK terrorists were killed in the southeastern Turkish provinces of Şırnak and Diyarbakır, the Turkish army said Thursday.

The Turkish General Staff announced on its website that seven PKK terrorists were killed in an airstrike in the Lice district of southeastern Turkey's Diyarbakır province where a rocket launcher, a machine gun and a rifle were also seized.

Meanwhile, the Turkish military conducted airstrikes on PKK camps located in the province of Şırnak, killing two terrorists.

According to the Turkish military, one of the two PKK terrorists that were killed in Şırnak province was one of the high ranking terrorists who were in charge in the region.

Meanwhile, a high ranking PKK terrorist, who was on the blue list of wanted terrorists with a TL 1.5-million reward on his head, was killed in the Lice district of southeastern Diyarbakır province on Nov. 24. Nevzat Gündüz, code named Azat, was killed in an operation along with five other terrorists.