Turkey neutralizes more than 65 terrorists in 1 week

By Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 69 terrorists were “neutralized” during counter-terrorism operations across Turkey over the past one week, the Interior Ministry said Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said Turkish Armed Forces carried out 1,683 counter-terrorism operations on June 4-11 with the assistance of land and air forces.

The ministry said 40 of the terrorists were killed, 17 others were captured, and 12 surrendered to authorities.

During the operations, 234 people were arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the PKK terrorist group and 37 others for their suspected links to the Daesh terrorist group.

Also, another 492 people were arrested for suspected links to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the July 2016 defeated coup, which martyred 250 people and injured nearly 2,200, and eight others for their links to leftist terrorist groups.

Listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU, the PKK has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people since the mid-1980s.

Security forces also destroyed 12 shelters, including several caves and eight improvised explosives, during operations in the eastern and southeastern provinces of Bitlis, Diayrbakir, and Van, the statement said.

In addition, they seized 26 hand grenades, 24 assorted weapons, and 4,320 rounds of ammunition.

During the operations, security forces also arrested 771 suspects for crimes linked to terrorism, and 114 others for organized migrant trafficking crimes, while more than 3,606 people were held for crimes linked to drugs and smuggling.

After examining 624 social media accounts, the Turkish police’s cybercrime division launched legal proceedings against 306 suspects.

Additionally, 2,681 anti-drug and -contraband operations were carried out, during which 359 suspects were captured, according to the statement.