The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the killing of /1763/ militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the military operations carried out by the Turkish army against the PKK militants in northern Iraq and Syria during the current year. The spokesman for the Turkish Defense Ministry /Zeki Akturk/ said in a media briefing today, Thursday: The operations of the Turkish army in northern Iraq and Syria during the current year, which focused on strikes carried out by Turkish fighter jets, resulted in the killing of /1763/ terrorists affiliated with the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party. The spokesman for the Turkish Defense Ministry explained that among the dead from the Kurdistan Workers' Party /868/ militants were killed in northern Iraq, while the dead from the armed organization in northern Syria reached /895/ militants. Akturk indicated that the number of militants killed in the Turkish army's operations against the PKK during the past week in northern Iraq and Syria reached /38/ militan ts. The Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman said that 337 people, including 8 members of the PKK, were arrested while trying to cross the country's borders illegally in the last week, noting that 1,381 others were prevented from infiltrating the country. He stressed that the operations carried out by the Turkish army outside the borders, specifically in northern Iraq and Syria, are primarily aimed at securing its borders and that the goal is not to violate the sovereignty of either country. He pointed out that the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has taken Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq as its stronghold, and is active in many cities, regions and valleys, launching attacks on the Turkish interior from there, and that the Turkish army is working hard to dry up the sources of terrorism. Source: National Iraqi News Agency