By Haydar Toprakci
TUNCELI, Turkey (AA) – A total of 15 PKK terrorists were “neutralized ” in Turkey's eastern Tunceli and Siirt provinces as well as northern Iraq on Saturday, the Turkish military 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.
During air-supported operations in rural central Tunceli, Siirt's Pervari district, and Hakurk, northern Iraq, security forces “neutralized ” the PKK terrorists, a military statement said.
The operations are still ongoing, the statement added.
In its more than 30-year terrorist 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 nearly 40,000 people.
More than 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including a number of women and children, have been killed since July 2015 alone, when the group resumed its terror campaign.
