ANKARA, TURKEY
Four YPG/PKK terrorists, including one on Turkey’s wanted list, were neutralized by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) in an operation in northern Iraq, a security source said on Saturday.
The wanted terrorist was Selahattin Dede, codenamed Zagros, who was in the gray category of the Turkish Interior Ministry’s wanted list, said the source, requesting anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.
Turkey’s wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red as the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange, and gray.
Dede was neutralized along with Mehmet Emin Alkas, codenamed Dilges, an Iranian national called Babek Ebdilselendeci, codenamed Dara Beritan, and another terrorist who is yet to be identified, according to the source.
The MIT closely monitored the group’s activities and found that the terrorists left Syria on May 19 to carry out an attack on Turkish forces in the Operation Pence-Simsek zone in northern Iraq, the source said.
An operation was launched against the group after it was confirmed that they were carrying a large number of weapons and explosives, the source added.
Dede was part of the YPG/PKK terror group for more than 10 years and was involved in various nefarious activities in the rural areas of Yuksekova district in Turkey’s southeastern Hakkari province between 2012 and 2015, according to the source.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.
The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
