Turkish security forces "neutralized" 67 PKK terrorists between Jan. 30 and Feb. 27, according to Interior Ministry sources on Wednesday. According to the sources who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media, 22 terrorists were killed, 24 were captured and 21 others surrendered between Jan. 30 and Feb. 27.
Last month, security forces carried out 861 operations against the PKK terrorist organization. A total of 2,195 suspects were detained in last month’s operations on charges of aiding the PKK; 144 were remanded in custody.
In addition, five out of 952 suspects who were arrested in connection with the Daesh terrorist organization were also remanded in custody. During the same period, 331 out of 2,849 detained suspects linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) were remanded in custody.
Also, two out of 60 suspects who were detained in connection with leftist terrorist organizations were remanded to await trial. A total of 2,466 narcotics operations were carried out, targeting terror groups’ financial resources. During the operations, over 10 tons of marijuana, 376 kilograms of heroin, 12 kg of opium as well as 27,188 pills were seized.
Authorities also found over five million smuggled cigarettes and 239,000 liters of liquid fuel. Some 353 out of 3,727 suspects detained were remanded in custody to await trial. As a part of the fight against irregular migration, 8,620 migrants were found and 83 out of 307 detained suspects were remanded in custody for people smuggling.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. It has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years during which more than 40,000 people have been killed. Ankara holds FETO responsible for the 15 July 2016 attempted coup, which martyred 248 people and wounded around 2,200 others.
In addition to the deadly coup attempt, Ankara has said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.