Turkey 'neutralizes' wanted senior PKK terrorist in northern Iraq

By Mehmet Tosun

ANKARA (AA) – A wanted senior PKK terrorist was "neutralized" in a joint operation of Turkish military and intelligence in northern Iraq, a security source said on Wednesday.

Nazli Taspinar, the so-called central committee member of the terror group, was targeted in the Gara region, said the source on condition of anonymity.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralized" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

The terrorist, codenamed Emine Erciyes, joined the PKK in 1994 and took personal training from Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK ringleader imprisoned in Turkey.

She was on the top red category of Turkey's list of wanted terrorists.

Taspinar, who assumed various roles in the terror group and played a part in training of female terrorists, managed the terrorist acts against Turkey.

She later moved to the northern Iraq and was for a while in charge of the management of the PAJK terror group, the so-called women's branch of the PKK.

Taspinar, who ordered terror acts against the security forces during her stay in Syria, moved to Iraq's Gara, the headquarters of the armed elements of the terror group, in 2019.

She was also one of the executives of the terror group's so-called military wing HPG, YJA-Star, a women's offshoot of the PKK, and the Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement (HBDH).

The PKK terror group often uses bases in northern Iraq just across Turkey's southern border to hide and plot terror attacks in Turkey.

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.

* Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev