A senior PKK terrorist, who was the "team commander" of the group in the Penjwin region on the Iraq-Iran border, was arrested in Istanbul, security sources said on Tuesday.

The terrorist codenamed "Kendal-Numan Amed" was apprehended at Istanbul Airport in an operation jointly carried out by counterterrorism police and intelligence officers. He came to Istanbul from Iran's Tehran Airport.

The suspect was transferred to a courthouse where he was remanded in custody.

The terrorist entered Iran via Kazakhstan with a fake ID and passport.

He joined the rural area of ​​the terrorist group from Germany in 2015. He was responsible for the so-called ammunition unit of the group, where materials such as mortars, howitzers, rockets, heavy machine guns, grenades, A4 and C4 type explosives, and detonators were taken by trucks from countries operating in Syria.

For more than 40 years, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.