Turkey nabs alleged terrorist illegally crossing border

MARDIN, Turkey

Turkish border guards arrested a suspected PKK terrorist on Saturday attempting to cross into the country illegally, according to a security source.

The suspect was detected trying to enter Turkey from Syria and was caught by the border guards, said the source who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

The suspect, identified by the initials C.A.M., is thought to be a member of the PKK/YPG terror group and was handed over to gendarmerie forces, the source added

It was found that the suspect received 20 days of training in firearms use, as well as the terror group's ideology, in 2017 at one of its camps in Syria before being stationed at the oil wells in the eastern Deir ez-Zor region in 2019.

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 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Sena Guler