16/1/2024–|Last updated: 1/16/202411:28 PM (Mecca time)
The Turkish President confirmed Recep Tayyip Erdogan Today, Tuesday, his country is moving forward in combating the organization Kurdistan workers’ party in Syria AndIraq Which he described as a terrorist, following an announcement Ankara It destroyed 23 targets with air strikes launched against ISIS militants in these two countries.
Erdogan explained – in a speech after chairing a government meeting in the presidential complex in the capital, Ankara – that 465 people have been arrested on charges linked to terrorism since the beginning of this year by the police and gendarmerie.
The Turkish President touched on the attacks on his country’s forces in northern Iraq, which resulted in the killing of Turkish soldiers, saying, “We did not let the blood of our martyrs go in vain. We bombed 114 targets and neutralized 78 terrorists in our air operations in Syria and Iraq in the past five days.”
He also pointed out that the Turkish intelligence service had destroyed 60 facilities belonging to the organization since January 12, pointing out that his country’s strategy, which he described as firm “to eliminate terrorism at its source, has disturbed those who plan to establish it in our region.”
He added that their operations outside the borders also thwarted what he called plots aimed at dragging Turkey into internal unrest through a wave of irregular migration, stressing, “Our military presence outside our borders is of vital importance to the security of our homeland and the safety of our citizens, and this cannot be undone.”
For his part, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Guler confirmed on Tuesday that his country would not allow the establishment of what he described as a terrorist corridor on its southern border, and that its foreign operations prevented it from paying greater prices at home.
This came while he was briefing Parliament on military operations and attacks on Turkish forces, pointing out that their operations in northern Iraq and Syria should be viewed as international cooperation in what he called the context of the war on terrorism, “and not activity against the sovereignty of these two countries,” he said.
In turn, the Turkish Foreign Minister said Hakan Fidan The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has expired, noting that the organization “is trying to intimidate Kurds and other ethnic groups that do not adopt its authoritarian ideology” in Syria and Iraq.
This came in a speech delivered by Fidan today in the Turkish Parliament, during which he stressed that the Turkish state will not leave a safe place for those he described as terrorists along the border and beyond the border.
Fidan stated that contact and consultation with the Iraqi authorities are ongoing and all security aspects are being discussed, reiterating his country’s support for a comprehensive political solution “that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people within the framework of United Nations resolutions and the country’s unity and territorial integrity.”
The Turkish Foreign Minister also pointed out “the presence of the organization’s camps along the Iranian border, and the presence of its extensions inside Iranian territory, which highlights the importance of diplomacy with Iran at all levels in order to combat terrorism,” according to what was reported by Anadolu Agency.
The Turkish army carries out operations from time to time against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Ankara has classified as a “terrorist organization” since it launched a rebellion against Ankara in 1984, and is active in several countries in the region, including Syria, Iraq and Iran. These military operations were renewed last Saturday after the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced the killing of a number of Its soldiers and others were injured during clashes with party militants who “tried to infiltrate a Turkish base in northern Iraq.”
