Afrin, Syria

Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi, the so-called leader of the ISIL terror group, detonated his suicide vest as he realized that he was about to be captured by Turkish intelligence forces, according to security sources.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on late April 30 announced that the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) "neutralized" al-Qurashi in Syria.

A total of 12 PKK/YPG terrorists who attempted to attack the regions of the Olive Branch and Peace Spring operations have been neutralized, the Defense Ministry has said.

"The fight against terrorism of our heroic Turkish Armed Forces continues with determination, day and night," the ministry said in its social media post.

The terrorist organization YPG/PKK has recruited nearly 250 children in Syria, according to the annual U.N. report on Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), released on July 11, detailing the devastating impact various forms of conflict had on children around the world in 2021.

Some 34 members of seven Syrian families, who have been residing in Istanbul's Esenyurt district for a decade, "went back home" with an official ceremony held by the local municipality.

Thanking Turkey for being their home, the families moved back to the Syrian cities of Afrin, Latakia and the capital Damascus on a bus on June 8.

Some 19 PKK terrorists have been neutralized in the regions of the Operation Olive Branch and Operation Peace Spring, the Turkish Defense Ministry has said.

Posting a tweet about the latest operations against the terror organization, the ministry said, "Sixteen in the Operation Olive Branch zone and three in the Operation Peace Spring have been neutralized."

With the Turkish government's efforts to maintain public order and provide economic and social benefits to local communities in northern Syria, some 500,000 Syrians who had sought temporary protection in Turkey have returned to their homeland.

Turkey's Permanent Representative to the United Nations said on Oct. 28 that his country will not be lectured by those violating human rights and humanitarian laws. 

Feridun Sinirlioğlu was responding to his Chinese counterpart Geng Shuang, China's deputy permanent representative to the U.N., who called on Ankara to comply with international humanitarian law in Syria.

Stating that both Russia and United States are responsible for the YPG attacks, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey would "do what is necessary for its security to clear northern Syria from "terrorists."

Turkey condemned the meeting of French President Emmanuel Macron with members of "the so-called 'Syrian Democratic Council,' which is under the control of the PYD/YPG, the Syrian extension of the terrorist organization PKK," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç said in a written statement on July 20.

Turkey's National Defense Ministry said on July 14 that 35 bodies were found in the northern Afrin district of Syria and the number of deaths might increase.