ANKARA 

Turkish intelligence “neutralized” a senior PKK/YPG terrorist in Syria’s northeastern Qamisli district, security sources said on Saturday.

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has taken down Remziye Altig, codenamed Viyan, in the Qamisli district of the Middle Eastern country, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to media.

The terrorist, who was responsible for the group’s financial traffic and was carrying out terror activities in Syria, was tracked and closely monitored by MIT.

Altig led demonstrations organized by the youth section of the terrorist PKK/KCK in Türkiye’s southern Mersin province before 2016 and took part in the group's action planning.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

The anti-terror operation came after a recent PKK terror attack that killed 12 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq. Turkish airstrikes, since then, have destroyed dozens of terror targets in northern Iraq and Syria and neutralized senior terrorists.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye. It also has a Syrian branch, known as the YPG.

Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Merve Berker