Turkish security forces eliminated a senior PKK terrorist who was on the Red Category of the Interior Ministry’s Wanted List, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced Wednesday.
The Interior Ministry’s wanted list is divided into five color-coded categories, with red marking the most wanted, followed by blue, green, orange and gray, depending on the sensitivity of their criminal activity.
The terrorist, identified as Seyran Çomak, codenamed “Bervar,” was the so-called Serhat province commander of the terrorist group and was the mastermind of 16 attacks that killed 28 Turkish security forces and one civilian.
In a statement posted on X, Yerlikaya said Türkiye is determined to wipe off all terrorists.
He was killed in the “GÜRZ-7” operation in rural Doğubayazıt in Ağrı province. The air-backed operation was conducted jointly by the intelligence unit of Ağrı Gendarmerie Command, jets of the Air Force Command, Gendarmerie Command choppers and UAVs of the Air Force Command.
The minister thanked the “heroic” security forces who took part in the operation and said Türkiye would continue to fight until the last terrorist is eliminated.
Ağrı and Batman, along with other eastern cities like Şırnak, Tunceli, Diyarbakır and Hakkari, were once synonymous with acts of terrorism where the PKK concentrated its attacks since its inception in the 1980s.
With no shelter in urban locations, the PKK takes advantage of mountainous territories in Türkiye’s southeast and northern Iraq, where its members spend winter in remote caves. Turkish security forces regularly target PKK hideouts in these regions.
Ankara boasts of having suffered no major terrorist attacks on Turkish soil since 2016.
In recent years, Türkiye has stepped up domestic operations and efforts across its borders against the terrorist group and convinced a substantial number of members to abandon the PKK. A significant number of suspected terrorists have begun to abandon the PKK and surrender, but many terrorists lack the courage to leave the terrorist group out of fear of severe punishment if caught.
In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
