Sinjar in Iraq won't be new PKK stronghold: Turkish Defense Minister
ANKARA – Anadolu Agency
Turkey's defense minister said on Dec. 18 that northern Iraq's Sinjar region will not be allowed to become “a new stronghold for the PKK terror group.”
"We expect the Iraqi government to cooperate with us in ending the separatist PKK terror group's presence in Iraqi territories," said Hulusi Akar during his budget speech in parliament.
Akar noted that Turkey respects the territorial integrity of Syria, Iraq and its neighbors.
"However, for the security of the country and the nation, our operations will continue until the PKK terror group has been completely defeated in the locations they exist in Iraq," he said.
Sinjar “will never be allowed to become a new [Mt.] Qandil", Akar said, referring to main base of the PKK near the Turkish border.
Akar also recalled the “U.S.'s promise to remove the YPG/PKK terror group from Syria's Manbij region.”
However, we have determined that the terror group has dug trenches in Manbij,” he said.
"When the time comes, the terrorists in this region will be buried in the trenches they have dug," he stressed.
