Turkish forces ‘neutralize’ several terrorists in eastern Turkey: Defense Ministry
Turkish security forces have “neutralized” several terrorists, mostly those of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militant group, during a counter-terrorism operation in the country’s Kurdish-populated eastern province of Tunceli.
Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency, citing a statement by the Turkish Interior Ministry on Saturday, reported that during a July 10 air-assisted operation on the outskirts of the province’s Ovacik district, two PKK terrorists and three members of the underground Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) were “neutralized.”
The Turkish military generally uses the term "neutralize" to signify that the militants were killed, captured or surrendered.
The statement said that one of the MLKP terrorists was identified as “Seydo”, code-named Taylan Kutlar, in the blue category of the Interior Ministry's wanted list, adding that he had a bounty of one million Turkish lira (around $177,000) on his head.
The ministry’s list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and gray, which is the least wanted.
The other MLKP terrorist was identified as “Pirdogan”, code-named Hidir Calli, who was sought with 300,000 Turkish liras (around $53,000) bounty on his head, it added.
Anadolu also said that in a separate anti-terror operation in Kurdish-populated southeastern province of Diyarbakir on Saturday, at least four other PKK militants were “neutralized.”
PKK militants regularly clash with Turkish forces in the Kurdish-dominated southeast of Turkey attached to northern Iraq.
Turkey, along with the European Union and the United States, has declared the PKK a terrorist group and banned it. The militant group has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984.
A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.
Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.
More than 40,000 people have been killed during the three-decade conflict between Turkey and the autonomy-seeking militant group.
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