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Turkish security units have started to reach out to families of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists in order to convince those who live in high mountain encampments to stop violence and call them to return home.
These initiatives called “persuasion operations” helped a total of 282 terrorists to defect from the PKK.
According to reports, only 95 people joined the PKK since the beginning of 2018, and 723 surrendered to Turkish security forces in last two years alone.
A total of 210 PKK terrorists have been “neutralized” as part of anti-terror operations across Turkey and abroad in October.
Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
The United States dispatched medical aid to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terror organization via Iraq’s Sulaimaniyah International Airport. Cargo planes landed at the airport and the aid was transported to Erbil before it was distributed to the PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).Some of the aid was provided to terrorists stationed in Iraq’s Qandil, while another portion was sent to the PKK/PYD in Syria’s north.Northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountains have been a haven for PKK terrorists over the past few decades. Considered as the main base of the PKK, which control checkpoints and entrances to the mountains, the structuring in the area is used for cover and concealment by terrorists.UAE, Saudi Arabia dispatch troops to east of the Euphrates in SyriaApart from the medical aid that was stashed in thousands of boxes, mine detectors and light arms were also provided by the U.S. to the terror group.Military sources say that the U.S. has been sending necessities and medical aid as well as heavy arms to Qandil for quite some time, in addition to the 5,000 trucks of arms it sent to PYD in Syria under the pretext of fighting Daesh.Turkey reacts cautiously to US putting bounty on PKKThe U.S. has continued to aid the terror group despite placing a bounty on three key PKK terrorists in early November.Under the Rewards for Justice program, people who give information on the identification or location of PKK terrorists Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, and Duran Kalkan are eligible for rewards of $3-5 million.Hundreds of US troops deploy to PKK-occupied areas on Turkey-Syria borderThe move was a "positive but belated" step, Turkish national defense minister said.The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.The U.S. and the coalition have largely ignored the PYD/YPG links to the PKK, which the U.S., EU, and Turkey list as a terrorist group.Suspected PKK terrorist arrested in southeastern TurkeyTurkish DefMin discusses Syria's Idlib with Russian counterpartSyrians continue to return to hometowns cleared of terrorists by Turkey
US sends medical aid to PKK terrorists in Iraq’s Qandil