Turkey offensives against PKK to become tougher: Source
The head of the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate deems airstrikes against the PKK in northern Iraq successful.
-
Members of Turkish Police Special Forces secure the area near the Interior Ministry following a bomb attack in Ankara, on October 1, 2023 (AFP)
A source in the Turkish presidential administration pointed out that military operations of the Turkish armed forces in northern Iraq and Syria against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) will take on a more active and tough character after the suicide attack in Ankara.
On Sunday, the Turkish Defense Ministry confirmed that its forces carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq and destroyed 20 targets belonging to the PKK following the attack that resulted in the injury of two police officers.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said two terrorists had carried out an explosion near the Ministry building in the Turkish capital, with one terrorist detonating himself and the other killed by a bullet to the head.
The #Turkish government announced that a bomb attack was executed by two terrorists in front of the Interior Ministry buildings in #Ankara.#Turkey pic.twitter.com/SjVUIa2f6C
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 1, 2023
The PKK, listed as a "terror group" by Turkey and its Western allies, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that injured two police officers.
"Yesterday, speaking in the country’s parliament, Mr. President [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] warned that our fight will continue until the last terrorist and these pathetic attempts [of terrorist attacks] are their last breaths. The military operations of our heroic soldiers will become more active and tough. Turkey will not become a hostage to terrorists," the source told Sputnik.
In the same context, Fahrettin Altun, the head of the Turkish Presidential Communications Directorate, deemed the airstrikes against the PKK in northern Iraq successful.
"The successful overnight air operations carried out by our heroic army against a separatist terrorist organization in northern Iraq have become an important indicator that we will continue to prevent terrorism not only inside our country, but also outside it. Thanks to these operations, the terrorist organization received another strong blow," Altun said on X.
It is noteworthy that in September, Iraqi authorities strongly condemned repeated Turkish aggression on Iraqi soil and violation of Iraqi sovereignty, affirming that they intended to summon the Turkish ambassador after a drone attack claimed the lives of six people, including three Iraqi Kurdish counterterrorism officers at a northern airfield.
