Weekly tally: Turkiye neutralizes 26 PKK militants

Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the Turkish National Defense Ministry announced that 26 members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been neutralized in northern Iraq and Syria over the past seven days.

Turkish authorities use the term “neutralize” to refer to individuals who have been killed, captured, or surrendered.

During a press conference, the Ministry's spokesperson, Zeki Aktürk, revealed that since the beginning of 2025, a total of 478 PKK members have been neutralized in northern Iraq and Syria.

The announcement follows the PKK's declaration of a ceasefire last Saturday, in response to a call from its leader Abdullah Öcalan marking a significant step after more than four decades of conflict with Turkiye.

Öcalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkiye, issued a historic appeal on February 27, 2025, urging his party to lay down its arms and disband.

The call has garnered international support, with the White House describing it as a "major development" that could foster peace in the volatile region. These developments come after months of peace overtures from Ankara to Öcalan, in an effort to end a conflict that began in 1984 and has claimed more than 40,000 lives.