19-04-2024 03:36 PM Jerusalem Timing

Turkey to Offer Rewards for ’Denouncing Terrorists’

Turkey to Offer Rewards for ’Denouncing Terrorists’

Turkish authorities will offer up to 4 million lira ($1.37 million) in rewards for those who help a crackdown on "terrorists", according to a new ruling published Monday.

Turkish authorities will offer up to 4 million lira ($1.37 million) in rewards for those who help a crackdown on "terrorists", according to a new ruling published Monday.

The decision comes after a surge in violence in the southeast between Turkish security forces and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Kurdish militants.

Turkish flagUnder the government's plan, informants' rewards will be based on the "value of the information in preventing terrorism crimes and catching the suspects," said a statement in the official gazette, where all new legislation and government rulings are published.

Those who report the identity or location of a "suspected terrorist" anonymously will be awarded up to 200,000 Turkish lira ($68,000) as long as they are not involved in the "terrorism activity" that they report, it added.

But the award will be multiplied by 20 and increased to 4 million lira if the suspect is the leader of a "terrorist organization" or the crime that is exposed is severe enough to cause "unrest".

The informant does not have to be a Turkish citizen to be eligible for the award, the statement said.

Ankara in late July launched a dual anti-terror offensive against militants of the Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) in Syria and the PKK in northern Iraq and southeast Turkey following a series of deadly attacks.

Some 60 members of the Turkish security forces have been killed over the past five weeks as the PKK has hit back at a relentless government air and ground campaign.

According to the government, more than 2,500 people have so far been detained in raids targeting suspected members of the PKK, ISIL insurgents and DHKP-C Marxist militants, the overwhelming majority of them from the PKK.