UPDATE - Türkiye's anti-terror operations will continue until every inch of northern Iraq mountains secure, says President Erdogan

UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS BY TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye's anti-terror operations in the region will continue until the mountainous region of northern Iraq, across Türkiye’s southern border, is fully secure, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Tuesday.

"Our operations in this region will continue until we have secured every inch of the mountains in northern Iraq, which are the source of terrorist acts," Erdogan told the press after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Over the last five days, 114 targets were hit as part of air operations in Syria and Iraq, with 78 terrorists "neutralized," he added.

Attempts to fuel and strengthen the terrorist group PKK by providing it with weapons, ammunition, training, and shelters have gained momentum, he added.

"Our cross-border operations have also foiled plots aimed at dragging Türkiye into internal turmoil through a wave of irregular migration," he added.

"Since promises made to us are not being fulfilled, no one can object to Türkiye taking the necessary measures for its own security," Erdogan stressed, referring to previous pledges to establish a buffer zone along its southern border.

Through successful cross-border operations, Türkiye "clearly and unequivocally" showed that it will not allow any "surgical" attacks on its territory, he said.

Türkiye will either eradicate the terrorist threat at its source or, as it used to, engage in the fight against terrorism within the borders, on the streets, and in the neighborhoods of its cities, Erdogan said, adding: "We cannot allow our country to face such a disaster."

"We are obliged to carry on this struggle not only for our own security, but also for the sake of our children growing up in a terrorism-free environment," he said.

"We have instructed our security units to destroy any terrorist elements they detect, regardless of who is next to, in their vicinity, or behind them," Erdogan asserted, tacitly implying that any international forces working with terrorist groups should stop doing so.

"Our military presence beyond our borders is critical to the security of our country and the peace of our citizens. There’s no going back from this."

Türkiye will undoubtedly take additional steps to fight terrorism in the coming months, regardless of who says what or what threats they make, he added.

"We will not stop until we have destroyed all of the terrorist nests established with insidious intentions in Syria, from Tel Rifaat to Ayn al-Arab, and from Hasakah to Manbij," he said.

"The main issue that needs to be emphasized now is not how cross-border operations will be narrowed down; it is not on our agenda," Erdogan said. "Instead, it is about how they will be expanded. It is about when and how the unfinished tasks will be completed."

The Turkish leader said more than 620,000 Syrians, who were in Türkiye under temporary refugee status, have returned to areas cleared of terrorism.

Erdogan's remarks came in the wake of fresh PKK attacks in recent days taking the lives of 21 Turkish soldiers, followed by fierce Turkish attacks on terrorist targets in northern Iraq and Syria.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terror group'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, UK, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the terrorist PKK's Syrian branch.

On the country's first manned space journey, Erdogan said they see it as a new symbol of a "growing, strengthening, and assertive" Türkiye.

He wished Alper Gezeravci, the Turkish Air Force pilot who will set off from Florida to the International Space Station on Thursday, a successful journey.

"I wish him success in the scientific studies he will conduct at the International Space Station," he added.