Turkey to intensify its operations in Syria, Iraq
The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during his speech in the Albanian Parliament. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced on Wednesday that Turkey will continue to intensify its operations against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in Syria and Iraq.
Turkey began a series of military operations at the beginning of October in response to an attack claimed by the PKK targeting the headquarters of the Turkish Ministry of Interior in Ankara.
“We have already intensified our air operations, and we will continue to do so to show the terrorists that we are capable of destroying them anywhere and at any time,” Erdogan said.
The Turkish Presidency submitted a request last week to the Turkish Parliament to extend the work of the army in Syria and Iraq for two more years.
The step comes after the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that launching a Turkish ground military operation in northern Iraq is one of the proposed options.
The Iraqi Minister of Defense, Thabet Al-Abbasi, met last week with the Turkish Minister of National Defense, Yasar Guler, where they discussed cooperation in the military and defense industries.
A statement issued by the Iraqi Defense Ministry explained that the two sides stressed the need to continue cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in maintaining border security.