Turkey ‘neutralized’ over 2,000 terrorists in year

ANKARA

Turkish security forces have “neutralized” 2,195 terrorists this year, according to information gathered from Turkish Interior Ministry’s weekly briefings.

The Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply that the terrorists in question were either killed or captured.

Turkish security forces, including Turkish army’s land and air forces as well as gendarme and police’s special operation units, conducted a total of 50,682 operations from Jan.1 to Dec. 25.

A total of 1,190 terrorists were killed, 521 apprehended, while 464 others surrendered to the security forces, according to the data compiled by Anadolu Agency.

62 of those “neutralized” were on the Turkish Interior Ministry’s list of wanted terrorists. Another 62 terrorists who were not on the list were in senior positions of the terrorist organizations.

Turkish security forces arrested 19,759 PKK suspects, 4,522 Daesh suspects, 62,402 Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) suspects and 1,307 members of far-left organizations.

25,922 of them arrested were remanded in custody.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as the U.S. and EU. In its more than three-decade terror campaign against Turkey, more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Terror attacks thwarted

Since the group resumed its armed campaign in July 2015, more than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives.

FETO, led by U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen, orchestrated the defeated July 2016 coup in Turkey, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

The group is accused of a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and judiciary.

Security forces also thwarted a total of 680 possible terror attacks. This year 135 people joined the terrorist group PKK, while 425 PKK members surrendered to the Turkish security forces.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said the PKK recruitment was at its lowest level in the last 30 years.

According to interior ministry data, 633 people had joined the terrorist group in 2016.

In addition, Turkish security forces have conducted 117,909 anti-narcotics operations in which 168,986 people were arrested and 13,921 of them were remanded in custody.

Over 184 tons of narcotic drugs in various forms and over 28 million opiate drugs were seized by the Turkish security forces.

Reporting by Orhan Onur Gemici and Sertac Bulur:Writing by Handan Kazanci