Turkey 'neutralizes' senior PKK terrorist in northern Iraq

By Baris Gundogan

ANKARA (AA) – A senior PKK terrorist has been neutralized in northern Iraq's Qandil region in a joint operation by Turkish intelligence and army, security sources said on Friday.

Mehmet Hatip Ariturk – codenamed Delil Siirt – was the so-called Kirkuk region head of the terror group.

Security sources confirmed Ariturk took part both in plotting of numerous acts of terror against civilians in Afrin, northern Syria in 2015 and in obtaining missiles and heavy weaponry from other countries in Kirkuk, Iraq in 2016, which were later used against Turkey.

The terrorist was also organizing intelligence activities of the PKK and operating as the ideological field officer in the Qandil region, security sources said.

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

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 at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas