UPDATE - Türkiye conducts 'most comprehensive' operation in northern Iraq, Syria

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) – Türkiye has carried out "the largest and most comprehensive and effective" air operation in Iraq and Syria against the terrorists, the nation's defense minister said on Tuesday.

"Operation Claw-Sword, launched on Nov. 19 in northern areas of Iraq and Syria, has been the largest, most comprehensive and most effective air operation against the terrorist organization in the recent period," Hulusi Akar said during his address in parliament in the capital Ankara.

Türkiye launched early Sunday the Operation Claw-Sword, a cross-border aerial campaign against the terror group YPG/PKK that has illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan attacks on the Turkish soil.

Akar said that the operation only targeted the terrorists. "With the operation, the dens of terrorists were destroyed and a great blow was dealt to the traitors who targeted the security of our country and nation," he added.

"For us, there is no ethnic, religious or sectarian discrimination between terrorism and terrorists. Our only target is terrorists. Where the terrorist is, there our target is," he stressed.

Türkiye sees the PKK and the YPG as the same terrorist groups and has called on the countries, especially the US, to cut all support to the terrorists, Akar reiterated.

Since July 24, 2015, a total of 36,854 terrorists have been neutralized in Türkiye, northern Iraq and northern Syria, including 3,585 neutralized since the start of 2022, he said.

Türkiye's air operation followed the Nov. 13 terror attack on Istanbul's crowded Istiklal Avenue that killed six people and left 81 injured.

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. The YPG is the terror group's Syrian offshoot.

- 'Türkiye will not allow any fait accompli in Eastern Mediterranean'

Akar said Greece continues to collaborate with the terrorist groups, adding it provides them with all kinds of aid in the Lavrion camp.

The Lavrion camp near Athens, once a refugee camp, has long been controlled by the terrorist PKK and has become a terrorist training ground.

Separately, Akar said Greece pushes illegal migrants towards Türkiye with "extremely cruel and inhumane practices."

"We have always sincerely expressed that we are ready to meet with them and solve problems through dialogue," he stressed.

Drawing to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Akar said Türkiye will continue to protect the rights and interests of Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean.

"Although we are open to dialogue, we have not and will not allow any fait accompli in Cyprus, the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean," he added.

- NATO bids of Sweden, Finland

On the Nordic NATO bids, Akar said Türkiye supports the open door policy of NATO.

"We are not against the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland. However, we expect them to fulfill the commitments they signed on June 28 in Madrid," he added.

Ankara expects them to cut ties with the terrorists and end their support to them, he said.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in May in response to Russia's war on Ukraine, but faced opposition from Türkiye, which accuses them of supporting terrorist groups such as the PKK.

The two Nordic countries signed a memorandum with Türkiye in June for cooperation in the latter's fight against terrorism. Ankara says it will greenlight their accession only if they address its concerns.