Turkiye neutralizes 13 PKK members in KRI, Syria
Shafaq News/ On Friday, the Turkish army neutralized 13members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq(KRI) and Syria.
The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced in a post on Xthat the army neutralized six PKK fighters in the Gara region of KRI, and sevenothers in Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Peace Spring areas innorthern Syria.
Ara, bul, yok et! Kahraman Türk Silahl? Kuvvetlerimiz, Irak’?n kuzeyindeki Gara bölgesinde tespit etti?i 6 PKK’l? terörist ile Suriye’nin kuzeyindeki Bar?? P?nar? ve F?rat Kalkan? bölgesinde belirledi?i 7 PKK/YPG’li teröristi etkisiz hâle getirdi. Teröristler, her nerede… pic.twitter.com/kcoy1dmg7r
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanl??? (@tcsavunma) January 31, 2025
No further details were provided yet.
Turkish authoritiesuse the term “neutralize” to indicate that the individuals were either killed,wounded, or captured.
Operation EuphratesShield (F?rat Kalkan?), launchedon August 24, 2016, and concluded on March 29, 2017, targeted both IslamicState militants and Kurdish forces in northern Syria.
The operation resultedin the capture of key territories such as Jarabulus, al-Bab, and Dabiq, withTurkish forces securing an area of approximately 2,055 square kilometers.
Operation Peace Spring(Bar?? P?nar?), initiated by Turkiye onOctober 9, 2019, and wrapped up by November 25, 2019, aimed to establish a"safe zone" along the Turkish-Syrian border by driving Kurdish forcesout of the region. During the operation, Turkish forces and their allies seizedstrategic locations including Ras al-Ayn, Tell Abyad, and portions of thecrucial M4 highway, gaining control of around 4,820 square kilometers.
Notably, Turkiyeconducts operations to combat the PKK, which targets its forces and citizensand operates in several countries in the region, including Iraq, Syria, andIran.
The PKK, designated aterrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States, and the European Union,has been engaged in an armed struggle against the Turkish state since the1980s, seeking greater autonomy for the Kurdish population in Turkiye.
This decades-longconflict has led to tens of thousands of deaths, with Turkiye conductingcross-border military operations to target PKK strongholds in Iraq and YPGpositions in Syria, both of which Ankara views as extensions of the PKK.
