Turkish forces have neutralized 124 PKK terrorists amid ongoing operations in northern Iraq, Turkey's national defense minister said on Sunday.

Axar.az reporta that Turkey launched Operations Pence-Simsek and Pence-Yildirim last month in the Metina and Avasin-Basyan regions in northern Iraq.

In 2021, a total of 1,107 terrorists have been neutralized so far, Hulusi Akar said in an address at the Sedef shipyard in Istanbul.

"Turkish forces continue to destroy lairs of the terrorists. Turkish soldiers are checking all the caves, streams, and hills there, one by one," Akar added.

The terrorist group PKK often uses bases in northern Iraq, just across Turkey's southern border, to hide out and plot terror attacks in Turkey.