Turkish security forces eliminated three terrorists, including one senior member, in the southeastern provinces of Hakkari and Diyarbakır, the Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
In a statement, the ministry said that two terrorists were killed in an air-backed joint operation by forces of the Hakkari and Van gendarmerie.
Another terrorist, Ekrem İptaş, code-named Seyit Batman, was killed in an air-backed operation in rural areas of Diyarbakır’s Lice district. He was wanted with a bounty of up to TL 1 million (roughly $150,000) and was under the Interior Ministry’s orange category, the statement added.
The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and gray.
No affiliation was given for the terrorists, but Turkey’s southeast has long seen attacks by the PKK terrorist organization.
Turkish security forces regularly conduct counterterrorism operations in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey where the PKK has attempted to establish a strong presence.
Turkish security forces have adopted the strategies “ending terrorism at its root” and “attack rather than defense” with its operations across the country.
Some 122,054 operations, including 116,650 in rural areas, targeted PKK terrorists in 2019 alone and have successfully detained and killed top PKK figures.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
Meanwhile, security forces eliminated another three YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria, near Turkey’s southern border, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
In a statement, the ministry said that new attempts by the terrorist group to infiltrate and attack the areas of Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring had been thwarted.
Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring last October to eliminate YPG/PKK terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.
The YPG/PKK, however, has continued to carry out attacks in the liberated Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn provinces despite pulling out of these areas.
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