By Seda Sevencan and Esra Tekin
ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye said “clearly” at this week’s NATO summit in Washington, DC that more pressure needs to be put on the Israeli government for peace in the region, said the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday.
Erdogan added that no country in the region including Türkiye can feel 100% safe as long as Israel continues to seek its security by occupying more land.
“What has been happening in Gaza since last Oct. 7 is not a war, it is genocide,” he added.
Ankara’s desire is for a cease-fire to be declared soon so that people of Gaza can breathe “a little easier,” he said.
On Türkiye’s counter-terrorism operations around its borders, Erdogan said Türkiye will soon be “closing the lock” in the anti-terrorist Operation Claw Zone in northern Iraq.
Earlier this year, Erdogan suggested that this summer would see a decisive Turkish push against terrorists in northern Iraq, near the Turkish border.
Terrorist groups, especially the PKK, often hide out in northern Iraq to plot attacks on Turkish soil, but Türkiye has made decisive strides against them in recent years.
In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.