Turkish Interior Minister Selami Altinok says at least 2,000 members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have been killed since the Turkish military launched airstrike operations against the group in late June.
“Since July 22nd, a total of 2,483 terrorist attacks have taken place in Turkey. Turkish gendarmerie, security and armed forces have conducted 4,328 operations in the country during which over 2,000 terrorists have been neutralised,” Altinok told Pro-Turkish government Anadolu news agency on Monday.
He stressed that Turkey would not allow anyone to compromise its sovereignty.
Turkey has been engaged in one of its biggest military operations of recent times in the southern border region.
The Turkish military has been conducting offensives against Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Syria as well as those agaisnt the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan and southeastern Turkey.
The operations began in the wake of a deadly July 20th bombing in the Kurdish-majority southern Turkish town of Suruç, located close to Kobani over the border in Syria, where over 30 people died.
The Turkish government blamed IS for the bombing while the PKK saw the government as responsible for the attack over its support for the IS militants.
According to a report published by Hurriyet daily newspaper, over 150 Turkish military and police officers have been killed since July in armed attacks blamed on the PKK.
On September 17th, the PKK declared as null a unilateral ceasefire with the government in Ankara, accusing it of waging military operations against the group to gain more votes in the November 1st snap elections.
