Turkey, Iran carry out coordinated operation against ‘terror groups’

ANKARA

Turkey and Iran have launched a coordinated and concurrent military operation against “terror groups” and drug smugglers along the “borders of the two countries,” Iran’s interior minister said on March 20 in a written statement.

Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Zolfaqari expressed his content concerning the realization of coordinated operations towards “terrorist groups of Turkey and Iran,” said a written statement.

Zolfaqari held a phone call with Turkish Interior Ministry Undersecretary Muhterem İnce on March 18, during which both welcomed the status of security cooperation between the allies, stressing that it is an important step to ensure the countries’ peace and wellbeing, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said in a written statement on the same day.

Turkey’s Commander of Gendarmerie Forces Arif Çetin and Iran’s Commander of Border Forces Ghasem Rezaei also held a phone call on March 20, agreeing to continue the coordinated operations against the “outlawed terror groups for some time,” said the Turkish Interior Ministry.

“During the conversation they emphasized the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey will continue resolutely to fight against the PKK/PJAK terror organization,” said the ministry.

“We started a joint operation with Iran against the PKK on the eastern border at 08:00 a.m. local time [05:00 GMT]. We will announce the outcome of the operation later. We will eliminate [the PKK],” Turkey’s Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on March 18 in the southern province of Antalya.