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At least 20 terrorists were “neutralized” across Turkey over the past week, the country’s Interior Ministry said on Monday.
The statement said five of the terrorists were killed, seven of them were captured alive and eight of them surrendered during the operations carried out from Oct. 22 to 29.
It said 757 terror suspects were also arrested that included 186 linked to PKK/KCK, 478 Fetullah Terrorist Organization , 67 Daesh and 26 to far-left groups.
The statement said 16 heavy weapons (two M-16, three rocket launchers, 11 rifles), 25 hand grenades, 54 kilograms of explosive material and 783 ammunitions were also seized.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children.
FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the July 15, 2016 defeated coup in Turkey which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.
More than 300 people lost their lives in Daesh-claimed attacks in Turkey, where the terror organization has targeted civilians in suicide bomb, rocket, and gun attacks in recent years.
Over the past week, 6,749 irregular migrants were also held by security forces, the statement said.
It added that 420 kilograms (926 pounds) each of heroin and marijuana, and 272 kilograms (600 pounds) of synthetic cannabinoids were seized in the same period.
The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) on Sunday bombed positions belonging to terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)’s Syrian affiliate, the YPG, on the eastern shore of the Euphrates River in Syria.Artillery shells were fired at the YPG-occupied Zour Magyar to the west of northern Syria's Ayn al-Arab region and was aimed at preventing terrorist activities.The move comes two days after President Erdoğan issued what he said was a "final warning" to those who would endanger Turkey's borders, saying Ankara was determined to focus its attention on YPG terrorists east of the Euphrates.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.Turkish forces ‘neutralize’ 12 PKK terrorists in a weekTurkey neutralizes some 14,700 terrorists over three years
Turkish forces shell PKK terrorist positions east of Euphrates in Syria
Turkey will not allow any entity or terror corridor that threatens the country's unity or integrity, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday."The formation of any entity that threatens our unity and integrity, the creation of a terror corridor near our borders ... or any step in the region contrary to Turkey will never be allowed," Akar said in a statement marking Turkey’s Republic Day, celebrated every year on Oct. 29 since 1923.Akar said Turkey resolutely continues its fight against terror groups, particularly FETO -- the group behind a defeated coup in 2016 -- as well as the terrorist PKK and its Syrian branches the PYD and YPG, and Daesh, adding: "This struggle will not cease until the last terrorist is neutralized.""The Republic of Turkey believes in the importance of finding peaceful, permanent, and fair solutions to problems without being indifferent to the suffering of the people, and tensions and conflicts around it," he said.The official proclamation of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk took place on Oct. 29, 1923 when the name of the nation and its status as a republic were declared.A vote then took place in the Grand National Assembly and Ataturk, a revolutionary statesman, was elected first president of the Republic of Turkey by a unanimous vote.
Turkey will not allow any terror corridor near border: DefMin
Turkish security forces on Sunday neutralized six PKK terrorists in northern Iraq and southeastern Hakkari province the military said in a statement.Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.The military said on its official Twitter account that the terrorists, who were preparing to attack Turkish bases, were neutralized in airstrikes in northern Iraq’s Avasin-Basyan region.Separately, in Kavakli village of Hakkari province gendarmerie forces neutralized two PKK terrorists in airstrikes, the local governorate said in a statement.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women and children. Turkish forces shell PKK terrorist positions east of Euphrates in SyriaTurkey neutralizes four PKK terrorists in northern IraqTurkish forces 'neutralize' 14 PKK terrorists in N. Iraq
Six PKK terrorists 'neutralized' in N. Iraq, SE Turkey