Turkey's interior minister on Monday said that his country is very close to eliminating the terrorist PKK group completely.

"We reached almost the end of the fight against PKK. We completely cleared PKK from the cities and have trapped them into caves in the countryside," said Suleyman Soylu during a police graduation ceremony in the capital Ankara.

The interior minister said that operations targeting PKK terrorists inside Turkey had continued throughout 2018, adding, "[...] we cut off the resources the terrorists fed on."

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.