ANKARA

In cooperation with Turkish intelligence, an opposition Syrian force has captured a YPG/PKK terrorist in northwestern Syria, where he was trying to infiltrate an area where the Turkish military provides peace and stability, said security sources on Wednesday.

Mehmet Kilic, codename Rizgar Amed, a YPG/PKK terrorist, was captured by Turkish National Intelligence Service (MIT) and the Syrian National Army, a local opposition force in northern Syria, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Kilic had been plotting to infiltrate the area in northwestern Syria of Türkiye’s Operation Olive Branch, an area outside the control of the regime in Damascus.

After Turkish intelligence located the terrorist, the Syrian opposition force took prompt action, preventing Kilic from executing his plans and captured him alive.

Kilic was already known to authorities for his involvement in an attempt in 2019 to infiltrate a police station used by the Turkish Armed Forces in Uludere, Sirnak in southeastern Türkiye, close to the borders with both northern Iraq and northern Syria.

Prosecutors in Mus, eastern Türkiye had issued an arrest warrant for Kilic on charges of terrorist group membership.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

Since 2016, Türkiye has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a PKK/YPG terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of local residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

*Writing by Muhammed Yasin Gungor