At least 16 PKK terrorists, including a senior member sought by security forces, were killed in a counter-terrorism operation in eastern Turkey, security sources said Saturday.
According to a statement released by the Ağrı Governorship, three of the killed terrorists were senior terrorists from the Interior Ministry's most-wanted list, including the individual responsible for the so-called Serhat province Yusuf Sek, code named "Yaşar," who was in the red category of the most wanted list. The other two terrorists were those responsible for the women's branch of the Serhat province Seyran Çomak with the code name of Berwar, and the former PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) figure responsible for Kobani province in charge of the Erzurum province of the PKK, Cimşit Ali Asker, who went by the code name of Sultan Mahmut.
The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and grey.
There are 23 different warrants for 23 different crimes for Yusuf Şek. The terrorist reportedly joined the PKK in 1992 and participated in a number of terror attacks, including one consisting of a car bomb attack on a security point in Karabulak on Aug. 2, 2015, as well as various attacks resulting in the deaths of over 40 security personnel in the Van, Iğdır, Erzurum, Diyarbakır, Bingöl, Kars, Bitlis and Ardahan provinces.
PKK organizes political training programs for terrorists
A former PKK member, who was detained by the security forces, made confessions regarding the inner structure of the terrorist organization. A.A - who was captured in Istanbul and released on a judicial control decision thanks to her cooperation - has shared information regarding the organization's operations in several cities with the help of some political parties.
A.A. stated that PKK provide organizational training under the name of "politics academy," which were highly ideological.
"There was training about Abdullah Öcalan [the leader of the PKK]. The ones who were trained were a group that mostly consisted of local people from Hakkari, the directors from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) political parties. The aim of the training was completely organizational," said A.A., while adding that the training was being held everywhere, including cities like Hakkari, Şırnak and Van.
Expressing that she also participated in the women's academy of the terrorist organization as both a trainer and trainee, A.A underlined that the politics academy conducts its activities in accordance with city and town organizations.
A.A further emphasized that the real aim of the training is to develop PKK organizations in local neighborhoods while indicating that this organization consists of two spaces named "construction" and "academy."
Stating that some PKK terrorists trained on how to build organizational psychology, A.A said that all the cadres under the umbrella network of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) pursue their activities to implement this system. "In order to be able to organize legally, almost all cadres became a part of the HDP and DBP as party members," A.A. said, while highlighting that the illegal activities which the terrorist organization normally perform are made legal through these parties.
A.A. further said that there is an economic committee in these academies and the necessities for the training, like shelter and food, are provided from locals and municipalities.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including many women and children.