'Leftist terror groups in rural Turkey on last legs'

By Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey has been completely purged of far-left terror groups’ structures outside cities, Turkey’s interior minister said Friday.

“There are either one or two people or none” in rural areas, Suleyman Soylu told a graduation ceremony for 500 women special forces police officers. “They are also in a hurry to flee to Europe.”

The leadership of the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq’s Mt. Qandil area is also reeling from the efforts of both the Turkish state and a longstanding protest of the terror group by families in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey.

Around 5,000 people used to join the terrorist PKK group every year, Soylu said, but now just a small fraction do, with only 52 joining in 2020.

“We will rescue those 52 people they deceived and kidnapped before it’s too late,” he added.

In its more than 30-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 some 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.