Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday that the Turkish army will continue to carry out anti-terrorist operations inside and outside the country and will not allow an area under terrorist control to appear near its southern borders. TRT TV channel quoted the head of the Defense ministry as saying.
"The only purpose of Turkish Armed Forces operations is to protect national rights and interests. We will not allow the formation of a terrorist-controlled zone near our borders," Akar said, referring to Turkey's plans to conduct a ground operation in Syria against forces of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), recognized as a terrorist group by Ankara. "Operations are and will be conducted at the right time and in the right place," he said.
According to Akar, 491 PKK fighters have been eliminated in northern Syria during the Turkish army's Operation Claw-Lock since April. He also said that the Turkish army liquidated about 4.5 thousand terrorists of the "Islamic State" (IS, banned in the Russian Federation) in Syria.
The head of the Turkish Defense ministry called on its NATO allies to refuse to support the terrorists. Recently, Ankara more and more frequently criticizes the US for its assistance to PKK-affiliated forces in Syria.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Young Cheol/Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS