No one can prevent Türkiye from using its right to preserve its own security: President

ANKARA

No one can prevent Türkiye from using its right to preserve its own security, the Turkish president said on Sunday.

"Türkiye has the right to all kinds of dispositions in the areas it has determined outside and inside its borders for its own security," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a meeting in Istanbul.

"No one can prevent us from exercising this right," he said, referring to the country's recently launched cross-border operation in northern Iraq and Syria.

Erdogan said that Türkiye has "neutralized" 480 terrorists as part of the ongoing Operation Claw-Lock in northern Iraq, located near the Turkish border.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April to target the PKK terror organization's hideouts in the Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, located near the Turkish border.

It was preceded by Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle launched in 2020 to root out terrorists hiding out in northern Iraq and plotting cross-border attacks in Türkiye.

Recently, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword in northern Iraq and Syria, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK/YPG terror group, which has illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan and sometimes execute attacks on Turkish soil.

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