Türkiye has eliminated more than 1,400 terrorists from various organizations since the start of 2024, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.
Spokesperson Brig. Adm. Zeki Aktürk said at a news conference at the ministry headquarters in Ankara that Turkish forces continued their uninterrupted fight against all threats, including the PKK, Daesh and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
"Our Turkish Armed Forces have eliminated 1,427 terrorists since the beginning of this year, 72 of them in the last week, in northern Iraq and Syria," Aktürk said, adding that 681 of the 1,427 terrorists were neutralized in Iraq and 746 in northern Syria.
Aktürk emphasized that cooperation and negotiations with neighboring Iraq are ongoing in the fight against terrorism.
Aktürk also highlighted the protection of Türkiye's borders with world-standard, technology-intensive systems, adding that in the last week, 340 people, including four terrorists, were caught attempting to cross the border illegally, and 863 others were prevented from crossing.
"Since Jan.1, the number of people caught trying to cross our borders illegally has been 6,707, and the number of people prevented from crossing the border has been 65,225."
He also stressed that the Turkish Armed Forces continue to contribute to regional and global peace and stability within the framework of bilateral relations and international missions.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq, including a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.
Türkiye aims to wipe out the PKK from its borders and create a 30-40-kilometer-deep security corridor along the Iraqi and Syrian borders and sever the ties between the group’s leaders in Iraq’s Qandil region and Syria. Türkiye’s escalating counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq in recent weeks have led to speculation that a wider summer offensive against the terrorist group is already underway.
The PKK is not designated a terrorist organization in Iraq but is banned from launching operations against Türkiye from Iraqi territory. It nevertheless has a foothold in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous north controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), where the central Iraqi government has little influence.
Türkiye's cross-border operations into northern Iraq have been a source of tension with its southeastern neighbor for years. Ankara has asked Iraq for more cooperation in combating the PKK. As a result, Baghdad labeled the group a banned organization in March and set up two military bases in the Zakho region in April.
The PKK has stepped up its attacks against Iraqi targets recently. Baghdad announced earlier this month that PKK members were behind a string of arsons in the country, including those concentrated in KRG-controlled areas. The Interior Ministry paraded three PKK suspects at a news conference and perpetrators confessed that they planned to set more fires elsewhere, adding that they also plotted to sabotage the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline between Iraq and Türkiye, as well as two commercial districts in Baghdad.
Three PKK terrorists who fled shelters in northern Iraq have surrendered to the Turkish border post in Habure, the Defense Ministry also said Thursday.
PKK terrorists often hide in northern Iraq and Syria to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye.