By Utku Simsek
Turkish security forces over the past week “neutralized” a total of 36 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq and northern Syria, near Türkiye’s border, said the country’s National Defense Ministry on Thursday.
“The Turkish Armed Forces have neutralized a total of 2,049 terrorists since Jan. 1, including 1,046 (PKK members) in Iraq and 1,003 (YPG/PKK members) in northern Syria,” Rear Adm. Zeki Akturk, the ministry’s spokesman, told a weekly news conference in the capital Ankara.
Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to imply that the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
"This week, two PKK terrorists, who fled from the terror group’s hideouts, surrendered to our border gates in the Baskale and Habur districts," Akturk said.
PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq, near the border, to plot attacks in nearby Türkiye.
In northern Syria, YPG/PKK terrorists threaten the Turkish border while trying to harass and attack local Syrians and Turkish troops promoting stability in a region once dominated by terrorist groups, due to a power vacuum in conflict-torn Syria.
In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
"Since Jan. 1, 10,876 people attempting to cross the borders illegally have been apprehended. In the past week, 398 individuals, including five members of the terrorist organization (PKK), were captured while attempting to cross the border illegally,” Akturk added.
- ‘Developments in Lebanon being closely monitored'
Following the briefing, ministry sources took questions from the media on background.
Asked whether aid to Lebanon, which has been under fierce attack by Israel, would continue and whether the Turkish Armed Forces would carry out an evacuation operation, the sources said: "Developments in Lebanon are being closely monitored in coordination with the Foreign Ministry.”
“Preliminary planning and preparations are being made for a possible evacuation operation," they added, on condition of anonymity.
"Aid will continue in coordination with other institutions, in line with Lebanon's requests and security conditions," they said.
Israel has pounded Lebanon since Monday morning, killing at least 610 people and injuring 2,000 others, according to figures released by the Health Ministry.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border clashes since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,500 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by Hamas last Oct. 7.
The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the specter of spreading the Gaza conflict regionally.
*Writing by Zehra Nur Celik