Turkey neutralizes 433 terrorists since start of 2019

ISTANBUL

Turkey has neutralized 433 PKK/YPG terrorists since the beginning of 2019, the country’s interior minister said Tuesday.

“There are slightly more than 600 terrorists in the mountains. It was 12,000-13,000 in the 1990s and 2000s,” said Suleyman Soylu.

The name of the terrorist organization, called PKK/YPG, will not be mentioned again. They will be defeated, Soylu added.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including many women and children.

The YPG, the PKK’s Syrian branch, has managed to occupy one-third of Syria under the guise of fighting against the Daesh terrorist organization with U.S. support.

* Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic