Four PKK militants with million-lira bounty on heads killed in Turkey’s Adıyaman

ADIYAMAN

Four outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants who had previously been sought with a reward of up to one million Turkish Liras were killed in operations in the southeastern province of Adıyaman, amid the security forces’ ongoing efforts to tighten their grip on militants across eastern and southeastern Turkey.

The four militants were among eight who were “neutralized” on April 29 during an airstrike by Turkish warplanes targeting militants in rural areas near the villages of Çamyurdu and Yazıbaşı, Doğan News Agency reported.

The authorities use the word “neutralized” to refer to militants who are killed, wounded or captured.    
  
Following their autopsies at the Adıyaman University’s Research and Education Hospital, it was revealed that the militants - identified as Veli Temirci, Abuzer Arıca, Fırat Berkpınar and Şefik Körman - had been previously been sought with rewards ranging between 300,000 liras and 1 million liras.

The four militants had been perpetrators of three separate attacks on security forces that killed two soldiers and one village guard in 2015. One of the attacks took place in the last days of the now-collapsed peace process, while the other two took place last year. Their names and pictures had also appeared on posters hung across the province. 

The militants were reportedly preparing a fresh attack targeting security forces in the region.

Meanwhile, the Adıyaman Governor’s Office on April 29 declared the regions where security forces’ operations have been ongoing as “private security zones” for 15 days.

Separately, the Interior Ministry on May 1 stated that a total of 238 PKK suspects were detained during operations conducted over the past week.

The ministry said in a statement that security forces had conducted a total of 579 operations targeting the group between April 24 and May 1, detaining 238 suspects for allegedly “aiding and abetting the PKK.”

According to the ministry, a total of 65 PKK militants were “neutralized” during security forces’ operations across the country in one week, with 38 of them killed, 11 of them surrendered, and the other 16 captured.

Security forces also seized 52 weapons of different sizes belonging to the militants, while 34 sanctuaries and caves used by the militants were destroyed, the ministry added.

In addition, another eight PKK militants were killed during operations conducted in rural parts of the eastern province of Tunceli, which had been continuing since April 27.

Another 12 PKK militants also surrendered to security forces in the operations around the Hozat, Çemişgezek and Ovacık districts. 

According to some media reports, the surrendered PKK militants had reportedly collected the bodies of killed PKK militants.

Elsewhere, security forces raided PKK camps and sanctuaries around Mount Kato in the Beytüşşebap district of the southeastern province of Şırnak for the first time in years, as a part of an operation launched 12 days ago in the region, Doğan News Agency reported on May 1.

During the operation which has been ongoing under harsh winter conditions, security forces spotted ammunition and weapon storages of PKK militants around the summit of the mountain.

Heavy weapons, rocket launchers, long-barreled weapons, explosives, ammunition, and organizational documents were seized in the operations. The camps and sanctuaries used by the militants were subsequently destroyed and their weapons were confiscated. 

Meanwhile, specially trained reinforcements have also been frequently deployed to strategic points in the region by helicopters, while occasional heavy clashes with the militants were reported in the region.