ANKARA, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish National Intelligence Organization has "neutralized" a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) responsible for killing Turkish diplomat Osman Kose in northern Iraq, the semi-official Anadolu Agency reported Sunday.
Kose, serving at Türkiye's Consulate General in Erbil, was gunned down at a restaurant in the Iraqi city in 2019.
Cemil Akar, code-named Renas Derik, was one of the perpetrators of the Turkish diplomat's assassination, the news agency quoted anonymous security sources as saying.
Following the assassination, Turkish intelligence followed Akar, who first moved from Erbil to Iraq's Sulaymaniyah region, and then to Qandil region, according to the sources.
In the recent air operations carried out jointly by the Turkish Armed Forces in northern Iraq, several PKK targets were destroyed, and Akar was among the militants being killed, Anadolu reported.
The PKK militant allegedly crossed from Türkiye to Syria and Iraq after 2014, joined the rural ranks of the group and was involved in its activities in the Makhmur region of Iraq.
Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralize" in their statements to imply the alleged "terrorists" have either surrendered, been killed, or been captured.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. ■
