By Muhammed Enes Calli
ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye has "neutralized" as many as 81 PKK/YPG terrorists over the last week, including those hiding out across the border in the northern areas of Iraq and Syria, the National Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
A total of 2,201 terrorists were neutralized since Jan 1., a ministry official told reporters at a briefing in the capital Ankara.
Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
The recent anti-terror operations followed Friday's PKK terror attack that killed 12 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq. Turkish airstrikes, since then, have destroyed dozens of terror targets in northern Iraq and Syria and neutralized senior terrorists.
PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye. It also has a Syrian branch, known as the YPG.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is PKK’s Syrian offshoot.