Erdoğan vows continued cross-border ops after PKK's deadly Iraq attacks

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has declared commitment to continued cross-border operations as part of the fight against terrorism in the wake of last week's deadly PKK attacks in northern Iraq.

"Preserving the unitary structure of our state and observing the principle of 'one nation, one flag, one homeland, one state' – the guarantee of our national survival – is our red line. We cannot allow these to be eroded," Erdoğan told an event in the capital Ankara on Dec. 28.

The president's remarks came after 12 Turkish soldiers lost their lives in two consecutive days of PKK assaults last week. "We had 12 martyrs, but we buried 59 terrorists," he said.

Erdoğan contended that recent years have marked the "most successful and fruitful period" in Türkiye's fight against terrorism, attributing this to "a change in the country's counter-terrorism concept" after the 2016 failed coup, with the focus shifting from combating terrorism within the borders to targeting hideouts beyond the national boundaries.

"We have taken steps in line with the new concept to crush the heads of terrorists in their lairs. This is how we disrupted imperialist games. We do not allow terrorists to contaminate the lands of the homeland," he said.

Highlighting the ongoing efforts, Erdoğan announced that 70 critical facilities of the PKK had been targeted in response to the recent attacks, including oil refineries. "We will not stop; wherever there are such sources for them, we will destroy them by hitting these sources," Erdoğan added.

Describing the challenging conditions of the regions under operation in northern Iraq, Erdoğan confirmed that the infrastructure for new bases would be completed by next spring, and roads were being constructed in areas lacking permanent bases.

Erdoğan then turned his attention to the opposition, criticizing their response to the operations. "The real issue is that some people inside the country still haven't realized what Türkiye stands for in the region. We encounter the manifestations of this distortion in every issue from foreign policy to the fight against terrorism," he remarked.

Implicitly singling out the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), Erdoğan accused them of neglecting the fight against terrorism. "They have made it clear that they do not have a problem such as fighting terrorism by showing that they look at the terrorist organization squarely," he concluded.

Expressing condolences to the families of the deceased soldiers, Erdoğan asserted, "In our belief, martyrdom is the highest rank. The position of martyrdom is the position of neighbor to the prophets."