Turkey’s Defense Ministry said the Turkish government has “every right to carry out border security operations.” [Getty/file photo]
Turkish Defense Ministry officials said Thursday that the country may carry out more cross-border operations into Iraq and Syria if necessary, following the deaths of nine Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq last week.
Nine people were killed in clashes with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, prompting the Turkish government to launch airstrikes and other operations in northern Iraq and Syria.
“Based on international law and self-defense, Turkey has every right to carry out border security operations,” a defense ministry official told reporters. We have done and will continue to do whatever is necessary at times.”
Turkish Defense Ministry officials said the clashes took place in the Zap region of northern Iraq, where PKK militants attacked a security post set up by the Turkish military at an altitude of 1,740 meters.
Since 2019, Turkey has carried out a series of cross-border operations against the PKK, known as “Claws”, in northern Iraq. The official said that Zap is the site of Operation Claw Lock, which aims to make the Turkish-Iraqi border completely secure.
On January 12, PKK members attacked multiple Turkish military bases in northern Iraq simultaneously in bad weather and low visibility, but all but one of the attacks were thwarted by Turkish soldiers, officials said. Ta.
The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. More than 40,000 people died in this rebellion.
The conflict has long been fought primarily in rural areas of southeastern Turkey, but is now concentrated in the mountains of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, where PKK militants are based.
The official said, “Syria and Iraq are inseparable in the fight against terrorism. Syria is the main human resource for terrorist organizations, and there are frequent transfers between Syria and Iraq.” .
Turkey is also conducting a military incursion into northern Syria against the YPG militia, which it considers a wing of the PKK.
The official added that Turkey could conduct new cross-border operations against Iraq and Syria and could also expand its operational area if necessary.
