ISTANBUL, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces have "neutralized" 45 "terrorists" in retaliatory airstrikes over their killing of several Turkish soldiers on Friday, the Turkish presidency said on Saturday.
Of the "terrorists," 36 were killed in the forces' cross-border operations in northern Iraq, and nine were killed in northern Syria, the presidency said on the social media platform X.
The airstrikes targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq and its branch in Syria, the Kurdish People's Protection Units, were carried out to retaliate against the killing of nine Turkish soldiers in a PKK attack in northern Iraq on Friday night.
Turkish authorities often use the term "neutralize" in their statements to imply the "terrorists" in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
According to the presidency, a security meeting was held in Istanbul earlier on Saturday, during which the country's counter-terrorism strategies and fight were assessed holistically, the statement noted.
"Türkiye's main priority is to permanently destroy wherever there is a terrorist threat, (including) camp, shelter, formation or cluster, regardless of who is behind it," the presidency noted.
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.
