Turkey has prevented 130 terrorist attacks so far this year: AK Party spokesman

ANKARA

Turkish security forces have prevented 130 terrorist attacks so far this year, including 126 by the PKK, three by Daesh/ISIS and one by an extreme leftist terror group, a spokesman for Turkey’s Justice and Development (AK) Party said Monday.

"Anti-terror operations carried out by our Interior Ministry continue in 15 regions. Similarly, Pence [Claw] operations launched by the Turkish Armed Forces continue in northern Iraq,” Omer Celik told reporters during a meeting of the AK Party’s Central Executive Board headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara.

Turkey's counter-terrorism operations continue decisively in coordination with the Interior Ministry and the National Defense Ministry, Celik said.

In northern Iraq, Turkey has carried out a series of offensives under Operation Pence (Claw) since 2019, along with three successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria since 2016: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.

Relations with Egypt

Underlining that Turkey welcomes the recent normalization process in its relations with Egypt, Celik said: “Egypt is one of the important partners of our country. With 21 flights per week, Turkish Airlines has the highest number of flights in the African continent to Cairo. In 2020, our total trade volume was $4.85 billion.”

“The fact that the second round of consultations between delegations of the two countries was held in Ankara shows that we have gone one step further,” he noted.

Celik stressed that besides bilateral relations, there are other issues the two countries need to discuss, including developments in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey and Egypt last Wednesday ended a second round of exploratory consultations by agreeing to continue the talks.

A joint statement by the Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministries later confirmed the two sides' "desire to make progress in areas under discussion and the need for further steps to facilitate normalization of their relations."

Afghanistan

Celik said Turkey is closely following the recent situation in Afghanistan, especially developments regarding human rights and women's rights.

Turkey expressed its desire for the establishment of an inclusive government in the country, he said.

He stressed the need for the emergence of a new structure in the war-torn country in which all religious, ethnic and local powers are represented.

Celik also called on the international community to act more prudently, not to leave Afghanistan to its fate, and to support the country for a healthy transition period and the emergence of an inclusive government model.

The Taliban took over the war-torn country in August and last week announced a 33-member interim Cabinet.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz