By Kaan Bozdogan
ISTANBUL (AA) — A security meeting of top Turkish officials came to an end in Istanbul Saturday under the chairmanship of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The meeting at the Dolmabahce Labor Office came after nine Turkish soldiers were killed in a PKK terror attack in northern Iraq.
Besides Erdogan, the meeting included Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, National Defense Minister Yasar Guler, Chief of General Staff Metin Gurak, National Intelligence Organization (MIT) chief Ibrahim Kalin, Communications Director Fahrettin Altun and chief presidential adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic.
Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terror organization's hideouts in Iraq's northern Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.
It was preceded by Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding out in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.
In its more than 35-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 more than 40,000 people, including women children and infants.
*Writing by Gozde Bayar