Turkey stepping up anti-PKK terror operations

By Gultekin Yetgin and Eyup Elevli

BAYBURT, Turkey

Turkey has stepped up the number of its counter-terror operations against the PKK across the country in recent years, said Turkey’s interior minister on Saturday.

"Since the beginning of 2019, we have conducted 16,244 operations against the PKK terror group. This figure was 60,733 in 2017, and reached 104,534 in 2018," Suleyman Soylu told a meeting of civil society group representatives and local officials in Bayburt, northeastern Turkey.

Telling how the PKK terror group has plagued Turkey for over four decades, Soylu said that Turkey used to retaliate after terrorist attacks.

"But we changed the strategy to combat terrorism, especially after July 15 [2016 defeated coup attempt]. Now, we conduct operations without a break, always chasing them [terrorists]," he underlined.

Soylu stressed that the PKK is in close contact with the DHKP-C, a far-leftist terror group, and the Fetullah Terrorist Group (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup, which martyred 251 people and injured nearly 2,200.

Locally made weapons, equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles help Turkey in its operations against terrorists, he said.

Explaining that Turkey's operations are not limited to Turkey, he added that Ankara would step in anywhere that could pose a threat, referring to areas of Syria along Turkey’s borders.

PKK and DHKP-C

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.

The DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey, including a 2013 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, which martyred a Turkish security guard.

The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union.