Turkey neutralizes senior PKK terrorist in northern Iraq

ANKARA

A top PKK terrorist was neutralized by Turkish security forces in northern Iraq, security sources said on Monday.

Hakan Ates, code-named Serdar Pir Avesta, said to be in charge of logistics for the terror group in Iraq’s Hakurk region, was neutralized in an operation by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) on July 22, said the sources, asking not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The MIT surveilled Ates, who was operating in northern Iraq since June 2015, and identified a secret area used by PKK terrorists, the sources said.

Ates was active in the so-called Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), a PKK offshoot, and personally involved in the terror group’s activities and recruitment affairs, the sources added.

Separately, Turkish security forces neutralized two PKK terrorists in Iraq’s northern Zap region and the Operation Pence-Yildirim zone, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said.

One more YPG/PKK terrorist was neutralized in the Operation Peace Spring region in northern Syria, the ministry said in a statement.

Turkish authorities use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

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

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev