President Erdogan: We are determined to make every inch of our country safe

Türkiye is determined to make the country and its borders safe through the operations it carries out against terrorism, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said

“With these operations, step by step, we are determined to make every inch of our country safe, starting just beyond the border,” Erdoğan said at an event in the central Konya province.

Erdoğan’s remarks came after three Turkish soldiers were killed in northern Iraq by harassment fire in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, which Türkiye launched in April to target the PKK terrorist organization’s hideouts in the northern Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.

The president extended his condolences to the mourning families of the soldiers, to the Turkish Armed Forces and to the nation.

Recently, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword in northern Iraq and Syria, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing YPG. In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

The terrorist group has illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders from which it plans and sometimes executes attacks on Turkish soil.

After the air operation was launched on Nov. 20, Erdoğan had also signaled a ground operation into northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terror threat.

Later, addressing a meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party’s Provincial Advisory Council in Konya, Erdoğan said: “While European countries are wondering how they will get through the winter due to the energy crisis, thanks be to Allah, we are entering the winter with relief.”

Referring to Ankara’s efforts to get the supply of grain moving out of Ukraine, the president said Türkiye is preparing to buy wheat to turn into flour and send it to poor countries.

He also recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer of sending grain to poor countries free of charge.

Last week, days before its scheduled expiration, the landmark grain deal signed in Istanbul in July by Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine was extended for another 120 days, beginning Nov. 19.

On July 22, Türkiye, the U.N., Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had been paused in February due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Touching upon Türkiye’s initiatives in the defense industry, Erdoğan said mass production of the country’s first unmanned fighter aircraft Kızılelma is scheduled to start at the end of 2023.