‘Türkiye won’t hesitate to protect itself against terrorists’
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye would not hesitate to take action against terrorists posing a threat to its national security.
Noting that Türkiye has shown its firm commitment to its survival and security time and again, Erdoğan told a news conference after a cabinet meeting on Monday that the Turkish military may strike terrorist targets “suddenly, one night.”
The well-known verse from a classical Turkish song “I can come suddenly one night,” is a slogan Erdoğan adopted for lightning counterterrorism operations against the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian offshoot the YPG. He noted that pressure was mounting for the PKK/YPG terrorists.
The president said a new era has started after Bashar Assad was toppled by anti-regime forces in Syria.
He reiterated Türkiye’s support for a unified Syria, as he said Ankara’s main goal is to establish a “terror-free” Türkiye in the near future.
Türkiye renewed its counterterrorism campaign in the past decade after a brief lull. In Iraq, it launched the Claw Sword operation in 2022 to eliminate terrorists hiding in mountainous regions of northern Iraq. The offensive still continues with occasional precision strikes and “retaliation” strikes against terrorists opening harassment fire or trying to infiltrate into Türkiye to carry out attacks. Similarly, the Turkish army regularly responds to attacks from Syria’s north, partly controlled by PKK’s Syria wing, the YPG. In 2017, it launched Operation Euphrates Shield in coordination with the Syrian opposition forces in Syria’s north. It cleared out PKK terrorists in a region between Afrin and Manbij, further driving PKK/YPG to Syria’s northeast. One year later, it conducted Operation Olive Branch in another push against the terrorist group. Finally, in 2019, Operation Peace Spring took place to create a “safe zone” near the Turkish-Syrian border where terrorists often target Turkish towns on the other side of the border.
Increased production of unmanned aerial vehicles and bolstered capacity of a professional army helped Türkiye to achieve its counterterrorism targets. At the same time, the PKK/YPG in Syria enjoys support from the U.S. in the form of training and military equipment.
