Turkey ‘neutralizes’ 21 terrorists over past week

By Ayse Sensoy Boztepe

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish security forces have neutralized 21 terrorists on its soil and abroad over the past week, the country’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralize" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

The statement said that the operations were conducted on Dec. 7-13.

It further said the Turkish jets destroyed over 30 terror targets in northern Iraq in an overnight operation against terrorist cells in northern Iraq's Sinjar and Mt. Karajak regions.

Over 20 warplanes as well as drones and refueling aircrafts joined the operation, the statement added.

- Anti-terror operations in northern Syria

The ministry asserted that a total of 4,598 terrorists were neutralized since Turkey’s Olive Branch Operation began on Jan. 20 to free Afrin of YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists.

On March 18, Turkish troops and the Free Syrian Army liberated the Afrin district center.

The sixth joint patrol of Turkish and U.S. troops were conducted on Dec. 10 in Manbij, Syria, it said.

A possible mission east of the Euphrates River, which Turkey’s leadership has been suggesting for months, would follow two successful cross-border Turkish operations into Syria since 2016 -- both aimed at eradicating the presence of YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists near Turkey’s borders.

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 deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.