Turkish security forces have eliminated a so-called senior member of the PKK terrorist group in northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry announced early on Monday.
“Turkish commandos have neutralized Ferit Yüksel, a terrorist code-named "Şerzan Mava," who oversaw the PKK’s regional communications, in an operation in the Zap region,” the ministry’s statement read.
The term “neutralizing” refers to terrorists killed or captured alive by Turkish forces.
The ministry informed that Yüksel was also a top right-hand man for the so-called leader of the PKK ring in Zap, code-named “Siyabend,” who was eliminated last year. Turkish commandos seized a picture of the two terrorists taken in a lair in recent years.
Zap sits close to the Turkish border where Türkiye has several ongoing military operations targeting terrorist elements of the PKK, which has hideouts in the region, particularly in the Qandil Mountains where its senior cadres are based.
Another “communications official,” Emre Şahin known by his code name “Rodi,” was eliminated in northern Iraq’s Gara region in May, adding to the dozens of "senior" figures Turkish operations neutralized in recent years.
A day before in the same region, two Turkish soldiers were killed in an attack by the PKK, the ministry informed Sunday.
Infantrymen Hasan Taş and Furkan Günergök were transferred to the hospital but succumbed to their wounds after being hit by harassing fire.
The attack took place in the zone of Operation Claw-Lightning, launched by Türkiye in 2021, which was preceded by two others, Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle. As part of these, Turkish forces eliminated a total of 831 terrorists and seized over 1,200 weapons across northern Iraq.
Also on Monday, the ministry said two more terrorists were eliminated in Gara and northern Syria respectively. One terrorist belonged to the PKK and the other to the YPG, which is PKK’s Syrian affiliate.
Turkish security forces have stepped up their operations abroad in recent years to stamp out terrorist activities in Iraq and Syria, Türkiye’s two southeastern neighbors.
Dozens were neutralized in the past two years in precision operations by Turkish forces in both countries where the current conflicts, geography, as well as U.S. support in Syria, shelter them from cross-border operations.
The PKK is responsible for over 40,000 civilian and security personnel deaths in Türkiye over an almost four-decade campaign of terror and Türkiye has been conducting military operations in northern Iraq since 2019, with both ground and air forces, to battle the organization.
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.
Its military involvement in northern Iraq dates back over two decades, separately from its operations against the PKK, and also included the war against the Daesh terrorist group, which controlled much of the area, in 2014 and 2015, when Ankara was an ally in the U.S.-led anti-Daesh campaign.
