Kurdish separatism in Turkey

The Defense Ministry has rejected claims of a ceasefire agreement with PKK or YPG, operating under the label SDF, following a statement from the U.S. State Department.

As Syria enters a new era after the fall of the Assad regime, there is no place for the YPG terrorist organization in this country, Türkiye's defense minister has said, stressing that the priority of the new administration is to create a terror-free country where everyone will live in peace and prosperity.

The European Union's law enforcement agency, Europol, has identified PKK as a key player in criminal activities such as drug trafficking and human smuggling in the region, generating millions of euros annually.

A report from the agency, released on Dec. 12, said ethno-nationalist and separatist terrorist groups, including PKK, remain active across the EU.

Turkey's justice minister has said the pro-Kurdish DEM Party's application to meet jailed Kurdish militant group leader Abdullah Ocalan was under consideration, without giving details.

"The process continues. We will work to determine an appropriate day," Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc told reporters.

Türkiye has pledged to prevent PKK and YPG from exploiting the instability caused by renewed clashes in Syria between opposition forces and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Italian authorities apprehended PKK terrorist Velat Çetinkaya in Rome, identified as one of the suspects in the deadly October attack in Turkish capital Ankara, according to reports in Turkish and Italian media.

Türkiye's intel agency has "neutralized" a senior PKK/YPG terrorist in an operation in Tel Rifaat in Syria, security sources said on Nov. 2.

Yaşar Çekik, codenamed Yaşar Hakkari, who joined the terror group in 1993, orchestrated the attack on the Hantepe Gendarmerie Station in the Çukurca district of Türkiye's eastern Hakkari province in 2010. Six soldiers were killed in the attack.

Turkish forces have neutralized nine PKK members in northern Iraq and northern Syria, the Defense Ministry announced on Nov. 22.

According to the ministry, four were targeted in the Claw-Lock Operation region in northern Iraq. An additional five were "neutralized" in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations zones in northern Syria.

An Istanbul court late on Saturday formally arrested a Turkish journalist over his social media posts on prosecutors investigating a mayor from Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), his lawyer said.