The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) eliminated the so-called ideological field manager of the PKK’s Syrian wing, the YPG in northern Syria, security sources said Friday.
The terrorist, Ali Subaşı, was on Türkiye's wanted list and one of the earliest members of the terror organization, being active in Türkiye, Iran and Iraq. Subaşı joined the PKK in 1987, fleeing from the army.
Subaşı, codenamed İdris Serhat, acted as a senior member in the region during Türkiye's Olive Branch anti-terror operation in northern Syria.
The sources said that the PKK announced Subaşı’s death as being a result of chronic illness, instead of saying he was eliminated by Turkish security forces in order not to cause panic among members. The PKK’s leadership is struggling to recruit both militants and higher ranks, according to reports.
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 in 2016, Olive Branch in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019.
Meanwhile, Turkish security forces eliminated another 13 PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Iraq near the Turkish border, the Defense Ministry also said on Friday.
The terrorists were targeted in the Operation Claw-Lock zone and Hakurk region, the ministry said in a statement.
PKK terrorists often hide out across the border in northern Iraq to plot terror attacks in Türkiye.
Türkiye has long stressed that it will not tolerate terrorist threats against national security. It has called on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group. Ankara has previously said it would not avoid targeting terrorist threats if the expected steps were not taken.
Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terror group's hideouts in the Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, located near the Turkish border.
It was launched after operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.