Turkish officials hold high-level meeting

WASHINGTON

Türkiye’s defense minister, foreign minister and the head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) held a closed-door meeting Monday in the capital Ankara.

Yasar Guler hosted Hakan Fidan and Ibrahim Kalin at the National Defense Ministry. No further information was shared about the meeting.

The meeting came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that Türkiye is resolute in its fight against terrorism.

"We maintain our will to create a 30-40 kilometer deep security corridor along our Syrian border. We are determined to fill with new steps the gaps in this corridor, part of which we have already established with our previous operations.

"As we have openly told them in person, we call on all in the region to respect this security strategy of ours. Otherwise, they themselves will be the reason for potential tensions. We have preparations that will cause new nightmares to those who assume they can bring Türkiye to its knees by establishing a ‘terroristan’ along our southern borders," Erdogan warned.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terror organization's hideouts in Iraq's northern Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.

Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).