3 more PKK terrorists surrender to Turkish security forces

By Jeyhun Aliyev

ANKARA (AA) – Three more PKK terrorists have surrendered to security forces in Turkey as a result of persuasion efforts, the Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday.

In a statement, the ministry said the terrorists joined the PKK in between 2014 and 2021, and they were active in Syria and Iraq.

With the latest additions, the number of terrorists who have laid down their arms through persuasion efforts this year now stands at 200, it added.

In Turkey, offenders linked to terrorist groups who surrender are eligible for possible sentence reductions under a repentance law.

According to Turkish officials, in recent years the terrorist PKK – battered and demoralized by Turkish security forces' successful operations – has been hemorrhaging members and failing to attract new ones.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq, across Turkey's southern border, to plan terrorist attacks in Turkey.

Turkey has carried out a series of offensives since 2019 against terrorist groups in northern Iraq, particularly the PKK. The latest operations, Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim, were launched this April in the Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions.

Also, 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 (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.