Turkish Intelligence Arrests Sniper And Leader Of The PKK Terrorist Organization In Iraq

Illustration of Syrian wing YPG troops in the PKK terrorist group. (Wikimedia Commons/Kurdishstruggle)

JAKARTA - Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has arrested the suspected PKK/KCK logistics officer Cekdar Kaya in Sinjar, northern Iraq, and brought him to the country.

Quoted by Anadolu Agency from security sources on October 10, Kaya joined the PKK in 2015 and participated in terror attacks in Gara in 2016 and Sinjar in 2017. He also served as a sniper of the terrorist group in Sinjar.

Turkish security forces regularly carry out counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases, to carry out attacks against Turkey, Daily Sabah reports.

Turkey has long stressed that it will not tolerate terrorist threats to its national security, calling on Iraqi officials to take the necessary steps to eliminate the terrorist group.

Ankara has previously noted that it will not shy away from targeting terrorist threats if the expected steps are not taken.

In the past two years, intensive operations in northern Iraq have destroyed terrorist dens in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap, and Gara. After removing the group's influence in the region, Turkey also aims to purge Qandil, Sinjar, and Makhmour.

It is known that the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq are strongholds of the PKK and the group is active in many nearby towns. It occupied a large number of villages in the area from which they launched attacks on Turkey.

This April, Turkey launched Operation Claw-Lock to target PKK hideouts in the Metina, Zap, and Avashin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border.

It was preceded by Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle, launched in 2020 to eliminate terrorists hiding in northern Iraq and planning cross-border attacks in Turkey.