Anti-PKK operation in Iraq should not be used for domestic politics: Akşener

ANKARA

İYİ (Good) Party leader and presidential candidate Meral Akşener has said her party does not oppose any cross-border operation against terrorism, while warning that such operations must not be “instrumentalized for domestic political benefits.”

“We would not question the Turkish state’s measures aiming to eliminate or prevent terrorist organizations. We would certainly support such a decision. However, nothing in either foreign politics or the struggle against terror should become material for domestic politics,” Akşener said in a televised interview on broadcaster NTV late on June 13.

The military is currently carrying out an operation into the Kandil Mountains region in northern Iraq, where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has its main headquarters and training camps.

“Unfortunately these issues are being made into subjects of domestic politics. The struggle against terror cannot be done by celebrations. An operation into Kandil could further raise the number of martyrs in the region” Akşener said.