ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish security forces have destroyed 144 caves, shelters and hideouts used by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in operations across 30 provinces over the past six months, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Saturday.
Eighteen PKK militants surrendered during the same period, Yerlikaya said in a post on social media platform X.
Authorities seized a large cache of weapons, including grenades, mines, RPG-7 rocket launchers, mortars, grenade launchers, pistols, shotguns and more than 16,000 rounds of ammunition. The operations were conducted by gendarmerie units with support from special forces, commando teams, village guards, armed drones and attack helicopters.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged an armed campaign against the Turkish state since 1984. Initially seeking an independent Kurdish state, the group later shifted its demands toward greater autonomy and expanded rights for Kurds within Turkey.
In July, PKK fighters held a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq, marking the first public step toward ending the group’s armed insurgency. The move followed a February call by imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for the group to convene a congress and formally disband.
In August, a parliamentary committee in Turkey began meetings to oversee a peace initiative aimed at resolving the decades-long conflict.