Turkey kills wanted PKK terrorist in eastern Tunceli province

PKK terrorist Ismail Surgec was in the red category of the Turkish Interior Ministry's wanted terrorists list.

A file handout image made available by the Turkish Ministry of Defense Press Office shows the Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar (R) looking at a map with members of the Turkish Armed Forces Command during a meeting at the Army Command Control Center in Ankara during the military operation dubbed "Claw-Tiger" on June 17, 2020.
AFP

A file handout image made available by the Turkish Ministry of Defense Press Office shows the Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar (R) looking at a map with members of the Turkish Armed Forces Command during a meeting at the Army Command Control Center in Ankara during the military operation dubbed "Claw-Tiger" on June 17, 2020.

A wanted PKK terrorist was killed in eastern Turkey, the country's interior minister has said.

Ismail Surgec, codenamed Yilmaz, was in the red category of the Interior Ministry's wanted terrorists list, and was neutralised in an operation in the Ahpanos Valley of Tunceli province, Suleyman Soylu said on Thursday.

The terrorist was the so-called person in charge of the province, Soylu added.

The minister also congratulated the "heroic" security forces over the successful operation.

The Interior Ministry said that Surgec was one of the two armed terrorists who were neutralised on November 10 by the provincial gendarmerie forces as part of Operation Yildirim-4.

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Weapons seized

On Wednesday, the ministry announced that at least two terrorists were targeted in an air-backed operation in rural areas of the Ahpanos Valley.

The wanted terrorist plotted, ordered and took part in many terrorist attacks since 2007, including assaults martyring Turkish security forces, planting mines, torching cars, making terrorist propaganda, and blocking the roads and traffic.

The terrorist was wanted with a bounty of up to 10 million Turkish liras (nearly $1.3 million) on his head, said the statement from the provincial governor's office.

Security forces also seized a number of weapons and ammunitions along with the documents related to the terror group in the area, it added.

"Efforts to find and neutralise terrorist elements in our province are carried out with determination," said the written statement.

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Turkey’s wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange, and gray.

The country this summer launched a series of security operations to neutralise terrorists believed to be hiding out in the country’s eastern and southeastern regions.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and EU, has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

READ MORE: A timeline of the PKK's war on Turkey: 1974-2019

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