Senior PKK terrorist neutralized in southeastern Turkey

By Hamdi Celikbas

ANKARA

A senior PKK terrorist has been neutralized in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province, the Interior Ministry said late Thursday.

The statement said Ilyas Karakoc was one of four terrorists neutralized in Diyarbakir.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question either surrendered or were killed or captured.

Karakoc was on a "grey" list of wanted terrorists and a 300,000-lira ($55,000) reward had been placed on his head, the statement added.

The wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and grey.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the U.S. and the EU. In its terror campaign against Turkey, which lasted more than three decades, over 40,000 people were killed, including women and children.