Senior PKK terrorist 'neutralised' by Turkish intelligence in Iraq

Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organisation “neutralised” Eyvaz Beyaz, a wanted senior PKK terrorist, in a cross-border operation in northern Iraq, security sources said on Sunday.

Beyaz, codenamed Zerdest Karadeniz, was targeted in an operation by the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation in the Duhok-Gara region, said the sources, who requested anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

Turkish authorities use the term “neutralised” to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured. PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq, near the border with Turkiye, to plot more attacks.

After joining the rural establishment of the terrorist group in 1994, Beyaz attacked gendarmerie troops in Turkiye’s Black Sea province of Sinop in 2010 and a police vehicle in the city of the same name in 2011. He also carried out a bomb attack against gendarmerie in the Black Sea province of Trabzon in 2012.

READ: Turkiye neutralises senior PKK/YPG member in Syria

Wanted by Interpol with a red notice, Beyaz is also on the Turkish Interior Ministry’s list of wanted terrorists. He is also responsible for attacks on operations launched by Turkish security forces in the Zap region of northern Iraq, the sources added.

Last Thursday Turkish intelligence forces also “neutralised” Ahmet Gumus, a so-called training officer of the PKK terror group, and then on Friday did the same to Necirvan Seven, another wanted PKK terrorist, in northern Iraq.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the US and EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.