The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) eliminated a PKK terrorist who was responsible for killing Turkish diplomat Osman Köse in northern Iraq.

Sources said on Sunday that MIT started to investigate the issue after Köse was killed in a restaurant in Iraq’s Irbil in 2019. It was seen that the attack was conducted by two terrorists who entered the restaurant on foot and sat at a table near Köse's table and a third terrorist who was inside at that time. Following the attack, the terrorists fled the crime scene.

It was determined that one of the terrorists was Cemil Akar, code-named "Renas Derik." Akar fled to Suleymaniyah from Irbil and moved then over to Qandil.

Akar moved to Syria from Türkiye at the end of 2014 and joined the PKK there before operating in Iraq’s Mahmur.

In the air operation carried out by MIT and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in northern Iraq, terrorist targets were successfully hit, and many terrorists were eliminated.

Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq.

Ankara maintains dozens of military bases there, and it regularly launches operations against the PKK, which operates a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil province, although the area is under de jure control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Both MIT and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) regularly conduct cross-border operations in these regions, particularly in northern Iraq, where the PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which they carry out attacks against Türkiye.

In the last few years, the operations intensifying in northern Iraq have demolished terrorist lairs in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara. After eradicating the group’s influence in these regions, Türkiye also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour.