Over 1,200 PKK Fighters Killed This Year Alone: Turkish Official
Turkey's National Defense Ministry has in a news briefing issued an update on the country's ongoing operations against members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the broader region.
"Türkiye has "neutralized" more than 1,200 YPG/PKK terrorists since the beginning of this year, including those hiding out across the border in Iraq and northern Syria," Anadolu Agency reported on Thursday.
According to Turkish state media, at least 44 PKK fighters were "neutralized" last week alone, with a total of 1,229 PKK members having been "neutralized" so far this year.
Ankara uses the term "neutralize" to imply actions like killing, capturing, or surrendering in relation to its operations against the PKK.
For nearly forty years, Turkey and the PKK have been locked in a protracted armed conflict, resulting in lethal consequences that transcend Turkey's borders. The PKK maintains its presence and affiliated groups in neighboring Syria, as well as in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
The presence of PKK fighters and operatives in Kurdistan Region's mountainous areas often draws Turkish airstrikes and artillery shelling, targeting PKK positions. This has cost the lives of scores of innocent civilians, and forced the evacuation of thousands of villages as well as the abandonment of thousands of acres of agricultural land and mountain resorts.
