Security forces target high-ranking PKK terrorists

A senior PKK terrorist, who was included in the red category of the Interior Ministry's most wanted list, was killed in a joint operation conducted by the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), reports revealed yesterday.

According to security sources, Gülüzar Tura, code-named "Pelşin Tolhildan," who was a member of the executive council of PKK, was among the terrorists killed on Aug. 19 in a building in northern Iraq's Qandil area in counterterrorism operations.

The terrorist was on the red category of the Interior Ministry's most wanted list and had a TL 4,000,000 bounty on his head. The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red marking the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and gray, depending on the sensitivity of their criminal activity. It is reported that Tural joined the PKK in 1993 and had received sabotage training and had been active in eastern Erzincan and Tunceli provinces. She was reportedly also a member of the presidential council of the PKK between 1999 and 2003 and later commissioned in the education committee of the terrorist organization.

Investigations revealed that Saliha Kaytar, code-named "Dr. Jiyan Garzan," head of the executive council of PKK's women's organization, the KJK, was also in the building and killed in the operation.

The Interior Ministry announced yesterday that Sezer Işık, code-named "Kava," was also killed in the Patnos district of southeastern Ağrı province as part of the counterterrorism operation. The terrorist was on the grey list of the Interior Ministry's most wanted list and had a TL 300,000 bounty on his head.

Turkish security forces regularly conduct counterterrorism operations in eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey where the PKK has attempted to establish a strong presence and bases. The TSK also carry out cross-border operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which to carry out attacks on Turkey. The operations were intensified after July 2018 and became routine since the beginning of another extensive campaign, Operation Claw, which was launched May 27 to entirely eliminate the presence of the terrorist organization in northern Iraq. On July 13, the TSK launched Operation Claw-2 as a follow up to the successful Claw-1. Like the first, the second operation was also launched in northern Iraq's Hakurk region and aimed to continue to destroy weapon placements and shelters used by PKK terrorists.

Operation Claw-3 was initiated on Aug. 23 in the Sinat-Haftanin region in northern Iraq. The operation was launched to facilitate border security, eliminate the presence of terrorists, and destroy terrorist caves and shelters in the region.