Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has eliminated two top PKK terrorists preparing in northern Iraq for an attack on Türkiye, security sources said Monday.
The two terrorists, identified as Zeynep Aslan, code-named “Mitra Mani,” and Zeliha Mahçup, code-named “Ekin Dilda,” were eliminated in a precision strike in Iraq’s Hakurk region, sources said.
Aslan and Mahçup were serving the PKK’s armed women’s branch, according to security sources, who said the pair were wanted on charges of terrorism.
They were trained to conduct attacks on strategic targets inside Türkiye.
MIT placed the two terrorists under surveillance after its field agents discovered the time and date when the pair would cross into Türkiye from Iraq, allegedly for an attack in a Turkish metropolitan city.
Aslan and Mahçup both joined the PKK in 2015.
Mahçup was recruited at a young age and sent to Syria by the PKK to join the clashes against Daesh terrorists. More recently, she was trained in Hakurk for terrorist attacks.
Aslan meanwhile joined the PKK’s rural ranks inspired by its propaganda aimed at youths.
Once a member, she was assigned to serve in Iraqi regions Gara, Qandil, Matina and Haftanin, where she joined armed attacks against security forces.
More recently, the PKK took advantage of her psychological problems and persuaded Aslan to attack Türkiye, security sources said.
In its 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 over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants and the elderly.
Security forces regularly conduct counterterrorism operations across the country, focusing on the eastern and southeastern provinces, where the PKK has attempted to establish a stronghold in its four-decade campaign of terror. Terrorists from the PKK and its branches, such as its Syrian wing, the YPG, and Daesh, rely on a network of members and supporters in Türkiye.
But increasing operations in recent years have driven the PKK’s domestic presence to near extinction and the terrorist group has moved a large chunk of its operation to northern Iraq, including a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, which sits roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.
Türkiye has, over the past 25 years, operated several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its war against the PKK and has been conducting airstrikes as part of “Claw” operations since 2022 to demolish terrorist lairs and prevent the formation of a terror corridor along its borders to both Iraq and Syria.
Strikes on the terrorist group have only intensified in the past two years.
The PKK mounted an attack in the capital, Ankara, in October, as two of its members attempted to raid the headquarters of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI), killing five and injuring 22 others.
MIT stepped up its operations against terrorist groups abroad in recent years. Counterterrorism operations largely target the PKK and its affiliates. They concentrate on northern parts of Türkiye’s neighbors Syria and Iraq, where the terrorist group exploited a security vacuum to operate freely. Turkish intelligence generally carries out precision airstrikes, employing drones, but occasionally, they bring terrorism suspects alive.