According to a ministry statement, 148 were YPG/PKK terrorists and 29 were fighting for Daesh.
Turkey recognized Daesh as a terrorist group in 2013 and the country has since faced several attacks – including 10 suicide bombings, seven bombings and four armed assaults – killing 315 people and injuring hundreds more.
In response, the Turkish military and police launched counterterrorism operations both in and outside the country, capturing several top Daesh members.
While the U.S.-led coalition has primarily partnered with the YPG/PKK in northeastern Syria in the fight against Daesh, Turkey has strongly opposed the terrorist group's presence there, which has been a major sticking point in strained Ankara-Washington relations. Turkey has long objected to America's support for the YPG/PKK, a group that Ankara sees as a threat to its territory and people, as they have destroyed homes and forced citizens to flee.
Turkey has long pointed out PKK's name-switching as a cynical ploy to muddle the international denunciation of the group, and the fact that Syrian opposition forces have proven effective against Daesh and that a terrorist group cannot be destroyed using another one.
The PKK – listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union – has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than four decades and has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK terrorist group.
Locals in PKK/YPG-controlled areas have long suffered from its atrocities. The terrorist group has a lengthy record of human rights abuses in Syria, including kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.
The Defense Ministry also said 75 other terrorists were killed during operations at home and abroad.
