Next phase of anti-terror fight kicks off in eastern Türkiye

The 32nd stage of the anti-terrorist operation Eren Abluka began in Bitlis province in eastern Türkiye on August 8. 

The Turkish Interior Ministry made the statement, Anadolu reports.

The ministry noted that 520 special forces soldiers of the police and gendarmerie as part of 51 operational groups are combing the Khizan district for the presence and elimination of militants of the bloody organisation.

On the first day of the operation, four shelters of militants of a criminal organisation were found in the village of Azapshar.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier that since 1984, when the PKK militants carried out a terrorist attack in Türkiye for the first time, thousands of Turkish security forces, military and civilians have died at the hands of this bloody organisation. The United States and the European Union have added PKK to the lists of terrorist organisations.

In recent years, the PKK has sought to shift responsibility for the bloody crimes in the region to its offshoots.

In Syria, PKK terrorists hide behind the names PYD and YPG, and in the last two years they have called themselves the "Syrian Democratic Forces".

In Iran, PKK operates as the "Kurdistan Free Life Party" (PJAK).