Turkish intelligence neutralises senior PKK terrorist in northern Iraq

Turkish intelligence teams have “neutralised” a senior PKK terrorist in northern Iraq, security sources said on December 27.

The National Intelligence Organization located Zeynep Eyveri, codenamed Aryen Are, in the rural Penjavin region of Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah city, said the sources on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media, Anadolu reports.

Eyveri was responsible for actions of female terrorists along the Iran-Iraq border.

The terrorist, who was plotting an attack against military bases in northern Iraq, was “neutralised” by the Turkish intelligence before she carried out the attack.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralise" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

The anti-terror operation came after the PKK terror attack that killed 12 Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq on December 22. Turkish airstrikes, since then, have destroyed dozens of terror targets in northern Iraq and Syria, and neutralised senior terrorists.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye. It also has a Syrian branch, known as the YPG.

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