Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Monday, May 17 that a senior Syrian Kurdish military official had been killed during an operation by Turkish intelligence services in Iraq.
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The Turkish army launched in April in northern Iraq a new land and air offensive against Kurdish separatist bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an organization considered terrorist by Turkey and its Western allies.
According to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the killed senior Kurdish official, known by the nom de guerre of Sofi Nurettin, was the military commander of the PKK in Syria.
"
This terrorist, who has committed many bloody acts, is also responsible for many attacks against our soldiers,
" said Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey accused the PKK in February of having executed 13 of its nationals, mostly members of the security forces, whom it had held captive in northern Iraq for several years.
According to the Turkish head of state, Sofi Nurettin would be one of the sponsors of the execution of these 13 people.
Turkey regularly carries out attacks in the mountainous areas of northern Iraq against the rear bases of the PKK, which since 1984 has been delivering bloody guerrillas on Turkish soil which has left more than 40,000 dead. These raids are causing tensions with the Iraqi government, but Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeats that his country intends to "
deal
" with the PKK in these regions if Baghdad is "
not in a position to do so
".