Turkish armed forces, police carry out joint exercise

ANKARA – Doğan News Agency

AA photo

Turkish armed forces have carried out military exercise in multiple cities and in Turkish Cyprus, while they joined forces with the police in a counter terrorism exercise held in the eastern province of Van amid ongoing clashes in the country’s southeast.

According to a statement made by the Turkish general staff, Turkish armed forces conducted military exercises in field, exercise comprehension and education activities, anti-tank shootings (TOW, MILAN, ERYX) and exercises of “counter terrorism in inhabited areas” in the provinces of Manisa, Çanakkale, Bingöl, Van and in Turkish Cyprus between Jan. 19 and Feb. 1.

“Counter terrorism in inhabited areas” exercises took place in the Bingol and Van provinces of eastern Turkey.
While most of the exercises were carried out solely by different units of the armed forces, the province police’s special operations team joined the armed forces in the counter terrorism exercises in the Erciş district of eastern Van.

The joint exercises comes at a time when police and armed forces continue to conduct intensive counter terrorism operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern towns of Sur, Cizre and Silopi.