Turkish forces ‘neutralize’ at least 2,000 militants in 2017

ISTANBUL

Turkish security forces have “neutralized” 2,195 militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) this year, according to information gathered from the Turkish Interior Ministry’s weekly briefings.

Authorities use the word “neutralized” in statements to imply that the militants in question were either killed, wounded or captured.

Turkish security forces, including the Turkish army’s land and air forces, as well as the gendarmerie and special operation units of the police, conducted a total of 50,682 operations from Jan. 1 to Dec. 25.

A total of 1,190 militants were killed, 521 apprehended, while 464 others surrendered to security forces, according to data compiled by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Sixty-two of those “neutralized” were on the Turkish Interior Ministry’s list of “wanted terrorists.” Another 62 who were not on the list were in senior positions of organizations the Turkish government views as terror-linked groups.

Turkish security forces arrested 19,759 PKK suspects, 4,522 Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) suspects, 62,402 Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) suspects and 1,307 members of far-left organizations. Some 25,922 of them arrested were remanded in custody.

Meanwhile, a PKK militant was killed in a clash with security forces in eastern Turkey on Dec. 26, the Turkish Armed Forces announced.

Security forces came into contact with the militants during an anti-terror operation near Selvi, a village in the Genç district of the eastern Anatolian province of Bingöl, the provincial governor’s office said in a statement.

Two members of the village guard militia were injured in the operation and were moved by helicopter to the Bingöl State Hospital.

Separately, Turkish Air Force jets killed 17 PKK militants in northern Iraq, the military said on Dec. 27.

According to a statement from the Turkish General Staff, the airstrikes carried out on Dec. 26 targeted Iraq’s Gara and Metina regions.