Wanted ‘terrorist’ neutralized in eastern Turkey

By Sertac Bulur

ANKARA (AA) - A wanted terrorist was “neutralized” in an anti-terror operation in Turkey's southeastern Mardin province, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

The wanted terrorist – identified as Deniz Orak, codenamed Hira – and five other terrorists were “neutralized” in air-backed operations by provincial gendarmerie forces as part of Operation Eren Winter-8 on Aug. 12-15, the ministry said in a statement.

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

Orak was in the green category of the ministry’s wanted list, with a bounty of up to 2 million Turkish liras (nearly $129,500) on his head.

The list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange, and gray.

According to the statement, the terrorist was the so-called head in charge of the PKK terror group’s affiliate YPS in the Mardin province.

The statement said the wanted terrorist also participated in many terror attacks in eastern Erzurum province, adding he was one of the perpetrators of the terror attack on Aug. 2, 2019, that killed Gendarmerie Sergeant Muhammet Ata Kiratli.

This year, Turkey started the Operation Eren series, named after Eren Bulbul, a 15-year-old killed by the PKK in August 2017, to eliminate terrorists in the country’s eastern and southeastern regions.

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