President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Saturday that Turkey is committed to securing the nation and its borders through its anti-terrorist operations.
At a gathering in the central Konya province, Erdogan said, “Hopefully with these operations, step by step, we are resolved to make every inch of our country safe, starting from beyond the border.”
Erdogan’s comments followed the killing of three Turkish soldiers in Operation Claw-Lock, a campaign Turkey initiated in April to hunt for PKK terrorists hiding out in northern Iraq’s Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions close to its border.
The nation, the Turkish Armed Forces, and the soldier’s grieving family all received condolences from the president, who also wished them patience.
Turkish forces recently launched Operation Claw-Sword in northern Iraq and Syria, a cross-border aerial offensive against the PKK/YPG terrorist organisation, which maintains illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where it plans and occasionally carries out assaults on Turkish territory.
Erdogan has indicated a land campaign into northern Iraq and northern Syria to put an end to the terror menace after the air operation began on Nov. 20.
More than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants, have died as a result of the PKK’s more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey; the PKK is classified as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the EU.
Erdogan later said, “Thanks be to Allah, we are entering the winter in relief,” while speaking to a gathering of the Provincial Advisory Council of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in Konya. “While European countries are thinking of how they will go through the winter due to the energy crisis, we are entering the winter in relief,” Erdogan said.
The president stated that Turkey is getting ready to purchase wheat in order to transform it into flour and deliver it to underdeveloped nations, in reference to Ankara’s efforts to get the supply of grain moving out of Ukraine.
He also recalled Vladimir Putin’s pledge to supply grain to underdeveloped nations at no cost.
The historic grain agreement struck in Istanbul in July by Turkey, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine was extended last week, just days before its scheduled expiration, for an additional 120 days, commencing Nov. 19.
A deal was made on July 22 in Istanbul by Turkey, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine to restore grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that had been suspended in February as a result of Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
Regarding Turkey’s defence sector initiatives, Erdogan stated that mass production of the nation’s first unmanned fighter aircraft, the Kizilelma, will begin by the end of 2023.