PKK recruitment down 90 percent: Turkish ministry

By Orhan Onur Gemici

ANKARA

Recruitment by the PKK terror organization in the past four months has decreased by 90 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry on Wednesday.

In a statement on its Twitter account, the ministry shared the number of the terrorists who joined the PKK, or surrendered to security forces during the first four months of 2017.

"415 people joined the PKK in the first four months of last year, but this number fell by 90 percent in the same period of 2017, going down to 41," the ministry said.

A total of 229 terrorists surrendered to Turkish security forces over the same period, the ministry added.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015.

Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including a number of women and children.

According to the military, almost 10,000 terrorists have been neutralized in air and land operations since July 23, 2015. More than 7,000 of these terrorists were killed while the rest were wounded, captured or surrendered.