Turkey Deports 59 Foreign Terrorists Since Nov. 11

Turkey deported 59 foreign terrorists since Nov. 11, according to the Interior Ministry on Wednesday.

Speaking in the capital Ankara, Interior Ministry spokesman Ismail Catakli also said 131 terrorists -- two of them listed in the most wanted category -- were neutralized in November.

As a result of Turkey's anti-terror operations called Kiran in the country's southeast, 124 terrorists have been neutralized, 19 collaborators were captured and 281 caves/shelters used by terrorists were destroyed, he noted.

Some 369,690 Syrians living in Turkey have returned to their country so far after the areas were liberated by Turkey's anti-terror operations, Catakli said.

Operation Euphrates Shield and its successors, Operation Olive Branch in 2018 and Operation Peace Spring -- launched on Oct. 9 -- all aim to eliminate terrorist elements, including Daesh/ISIS and the YPG/PKK near Turkey's borders.

Ankara wants to clear northern Syria east of the Euphrates River of the terrorist PKK and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG/PKK.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU -- has been responsible for deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Writing by Nilay Kar Onum -