Turkish army ‘neutralizes’ 23 PKK militants after attack on border post

ANKARA

At least 23 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants have been “neutralized” after attacking a border post in the southeastern Şanlıurfa province, the Turkish General Staff said on March 20.

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

In a statement, the Turkish General Staff said “PKK/PYD-YPG [Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party-People’s Protection Units] terrorists” launched a gun-and-rocket attack on March 19 on a Turkish military border guardhouse in Şanlıurfa’s Ceylanpınar district near the Syrian border, to which the Turkish military retaliated.

Additionally, a “PKK/PYD-YPG terrorist” who escaped from their shelter in Syria surrendered to Turkish authorities in southeastern Mardin’s Nusaybin district, the statement added.

Ankara sees the PYD and its military wing the YPG as terrorist groups, saying they are the Syrian extension of the PKK.