Turkey neutralized 128 terrorists in June

By Yildiz Nevin Gundogmus

ANKARA

This June security forces in Turkey neutralized at least 128 terrorists, a government official said on Friday.

Turkish Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli told a monthly press briefing that the neutralized terrorists included nine terrorists on the ministry wanted list, including six in the orange category and three in the gray category.

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

Catakli also noted that in the first six months of 2020, a total of 562 terrorists were “neutralized.”

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

"The results we achieved during this period, when the number of terrorists in rural areas fell to around 400, shows our determination in the fight against terrorism," he added.

The affiliations of the neutralized terrorists were not given, but in decades of Turkish anti-terror operations, the PKK and YPG/PKK have remained the chief threat.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The terrorist YPG is the PKK's Syrian branch.

* Writing by Merve Aydogan