MİT neutralizes PKK/YPG local leader in N Syria

ANKARA – Demirören News Agency

The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) has neutralized Şahin Tekintanğaç, a PKK/YPG terrorist who is code-named Kendal Ermeni and was the local leader of the Ayn al-Arab neighborhood in Syria’s Aleppo province, Demirören News Agency has reported.

Tekintanğaç, who had been wanted for a long time due to his domestic activities, had carried out terrorist activities in the eastern provinces of Ağrı, Kars, Bingöl and Bitlis for many years, reportedly.

Meanwhile, a PKK/KCK terrorist, Savaş Çelik, who is code-named Zerdeşt and was on the “blue list” for “most wanted terrorists,” was caught in an operation abroad and brought to Türkiye.

Çelik, which had been carrying out collaborative activities with PKK/KCK members in the rural area of the eastern province of Muş since 2014, was among the group that organized the armed assault, in which Arslan Kulaksız, a commander of the gendarmerie garrison, was killed after gunmen opened fire on his car on July 27, 2015.

Two aggravated life sentences and a prison sentence of up to 30 years were requested for 12 PKK terror suspects, eight of whom were imprisoned.

“Neutralized” is a term used by the Turkish military and officials to indicate terrorists were either killed, wounded, or captured. The ministry ranks those included on the list in five color-coded categories from red (most wanted) to blue, green, orange and grey.