Turkey “neutralizes” 13 suspected PKK terrorists in northern Syria

Oct. 11 () –

The Government of Turkey announced on Monday the “neutralization” of a total of 13 suspected “terrorists” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Syria.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense has announced on Monday morning that five members of the PKK/YGL have been “neutralized” in northern Syria, without giving further details about the operation carried out jointly with the National Intelligence Organization.

Hours later, the ministerial portfolio has added another eight suspected terrorists to the number of “neutralized” by the country’s Army.

“Harassing shots by terrorists do not go unpunished. Eight PKK/YPPG terrorists, who opened fire to disturb the peace and security of the Peace Spring region in northern Syria, have been neutralized by our Forces. Turkish Armed Forces”, the Ministry has indicated through its account on the social network Twitter.

Turkey uses the term “neutralized” to refer to suspects who have been killed, captured or handed over to the authorities. Being bombings, it is understood that Ankara considers them dead.

The Turkish Army has intensified its operations against the PKK both in Syria and in northern Iraq since the ceasefire between the Government and the armed group was broken in July 2015.

The breakdown of the ceasefire took place shortly after the government and the guerrillas signed the so-called Dolmabahce agreements to advance the peace talks and after the historic entry into the Turkish Parliament of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Turkey considers the YPG — Syrian-Kurdish militia People’s Protection Units (YPG) — as the Syrian affiliate of the PKK armed group, with a presence in Turkey. The YPG are in turn the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), key in the fight against the Islamic State in Syria.