Türkiye 'neutralizes' 59 PKK terrorists since Dec. 22: President Erdogan

ISTANBUL

Türkiye "neutralized" 59 PKK terrorists as part of anti-terror operations since Dec. 22, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

Speaking to local officials in the capital Ankara, Erdogan said: "If terrorism has come to the point of ending within our borders today, the operations we carry out in Iraq and Syria are the key reason for this."

"Our red line is to uphold the principle of one nation, one flag, one homeland, one state under all circumstances, as this guarantees our national survival," he added.

Türkiye will resolutely continue the anti-terror operations until the last terrorist is no longer a threat to the nation, he said.

"We continue our operations beyond our borders. We do not allow terrorists to tarnish our homeland with their dirty feet," Erdogan added.

Turkish intelligence is conducting highly successful operations against terrorist infrastructure and ringleaders in northern Syria, said Erdogan.

A total of critical 70 facilities, including oil refineries, belonging to the PKK terror group were destroyed, he said.

"Wherever there are such sources for them, we will destroy these sources, and we are destroying them. Along with all these, terrorists are also being eliminated," he said.

Türkiye has built hundreds of kilometers of roads in northern Iraq for permanent base areas in the past years, said Erdogan, adding that conditions make it difficult to progress at the speed that is desired.

"Hopefully, we will complete the infrastructures of our new base areas by the spring, and we will make terrorists unable to set foot there again."

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

The recent anti-terror operations followed Friday's PKK terror attack that killed 12 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq. Turkish airstrikes, since then, have destroyed dozens of terror targets in northern Iraq and Syria and “neutralized” senior terrorists.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye. It also has a Syrian branch, known as the YPG.

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

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