Turkish forces neutralise 4 PKK terrorists in southeastern Türkiye

Turkish security forces have “neutralised” four PKK terrorists in the southeastern Diyarbakir province, the country’s interior minister has said.

Ali Yerlikaya said on Monday that three of the terrorists were in the red, orange and gray categories of the Turkish Interior Ministry’s wanted list. They included Hulya Demirer, codenamed Axin Mus; Cihat Ay, codenamed Rohat Pasur; and Cetin Temel, codenamed Demhat.

"We will continue our fight with determination until the last terrorist is neutralised," he said.

Turkish authorities use the term “neutralised” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

Anti-terror operations

Türkiye neutralised over 258 terrorists in 43,490 anti-terror operations over the past three months, the interior minister said last week.

Some 44 terrorist attacks, the vast majority, 37, intended bomb attacks, were prevented in the last 90 days, Ali Yerlikaya told reporters.

Meanwhile, a total of 75,442 irregular immigrants were held in 1,285 operations carried out in the last three months, while over 32,500 of them were deported, Yerlikaya said.

The deportation process of the remaining irregular immigrants is underway, he said.

In the last 90 days, 2,159 people were arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling activities, Yerlikaya added.

Thanks to intensive and comprehensive controls on irregular migrants in the field, nearly 89,400 foreigners living in Istanbul alone, whose visa, visa exemption, or residence period had expired, left the country over the past three months, he said.

As a result of the successful efforts of border troops, over 59,000 people were prevented from crossing the border in the past 90 days, he added.

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