Turkish intelligence takes out PKK terrorist plotting attack on military base

Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has taken out a PKK terrorist plotting an attack on a Turkish military base in northern Iraq, security sources said on November 30.

Mehmet Akin, code-named "Harun Egid," was eliminated in a pinpoint operation in the town of Kharkuk near the Turkish border, where he had been in hiding, Daily Sabah reports.

He had a warrant out from a criminal court of peace in the southern Adana province for the crime of “being a member of an armed terrorist organization.”

Akin joined the PKK ranks from the northern Iraqi district of Avashin a decade ago.

Until 2016, he was trained in sabotage and armed assault tactics there by the PKK, sources said.

In 2019, he moved to Kharkuk, where he worked in the construction of PKK tunnels and took part in attacks on Turkish security forces.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, Britain and the European Union – is responsible for over 40,000 civilian and security personnel deaths in Türkiye during an almost four-decadelong campaign of terror.

Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq.

Ankara maintains dozens of military bases there, and it regularly launches operations against the PKK, which operates a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil province, although the area is under de jure control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Both MIT and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) regularly conduct cross-border operations in these regions, particularly in northern Iraq, where the PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which they carry out attacks against Türkiye.

In the last few years, the operations intensifying in northern Iraq have demolished terrorist lairs in Metina, Avashin-Basyan, Zap and Gara. After eradicating the group’s influence in these regions, Türkiye also aims to clear Qandil, Sinjar and Makhmour.