A senior member of the PKK terrorist organization wanted by the Interior Ministry with a bounty of 300,000 Turkish liras (around $58,000) on his head was "neutralized" in counterrorism operations in eastern Turkey, the ministry announced Tuesday.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

Ali Akbaş, the so-called figure in charge of "Eastern Forces" in Erzurum province and listed in the gray category of the ministry's top-wanted terrorists list, was captured dead along with another a terrorist in operations conducted by the Provincial Police Department's Special Operations and Counterterrorism Branches in the village of Malazgirt Tatargazi in Muş.

An M-16, a Kalashnikov rifle and a large number of ammunition were also seized during the operation.

Interior Ministry's wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and lastly gray.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.