Turkish ‘neutralizes’ 20 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish security forces “neutralized” 20 PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the National Defense Minister said Friday.

Hulusi Akar disclosed information to lawmakers in parliament about a terror attack in the Operation Pence-Yildirim zone that killed three Turkish soldiers Thursday.

"As a result of the operations from the ground and from the air that we have started in coordination with the MIT (National Intelligence Service), 20 terrorists, including those who carried out this attack, were neutralized," said Akar.

Turkey's operations would continue with determination "until the last terrorist is neutralized," he said. "Let no one doubt that.”

The Pence operations are a series of offensives Turkey has conducted since 2019 against terror organizations in northern Iraq, particularly the PKK.

Operations Pence-Kaplan and Pence-Kartal were initiated in June 2020, while Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim were launched in April in Iraq’s Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Akar said 33,100 terrorists have been neutralized in Turkey, in northern Iraq and Syria since July 24, 2015.

Since the beginning of the year, 2,619 terrorists have been neutralized, he added.