Operation in Afrin will be launced if necessary: Turkish DefMin

Ersin Çelik
12:184/07/2017, Tuesday
U: 4/07/2017, Tuesday
Yeni Şafak
Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık
Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık

“In case of any necessity, Turkey would not abstain from launching an operation in Afrin,” said Turkey’s Defense Minister Fikri Işık.

Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık answers questions on the agenda.

Regarding the food poisoning of soldiers in some Turkish provinces, “We have been carrying out a study which incorporates the whole system. Enough attention was not paid to hygiene and cooking conditions. Six people in charge of food control have been suspended from duty, and the investigation is ongoing,” Işık said.

Counter-terrorism

“Nearly 11 thousand terrorists have been neutralized in two years. The current fight [against terrorism] has achieved a great deal of success. We make hard efforts to have the minimum number of martyrs. We support our army with technology. We use more UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles). We have sent the armored Hürkuş to the region.

They [terrorists] do not dare face our soldiers now. Not even a centimeter of Turkey is secure for the terrorist organizations. There had been some areas which were not suitable for operations. Now, there is nowhere within Turkey’s territory that Turkey cannot launch an operation."

Possible Afrin operation

"If necessary, Turkey would not abstain from launching an operation in this region," said Işık.

S-400 missile defense system

With regards to developing a national missile defense system, Işık said Turkey would cooperate with France and Italy, and the country would mainly focus on developing a system instead of purchasing one. “Technical work with Russia has been completed, and now it is time for the final decision,” said Fikri Işık.

FETÖ structuring in Turkish Army

"There will be new dismissals soon. We will continue this combat until these traitors are completely liquidated, and this is not a temporary agenda item for us," Işık added.

Turkish air base in Qatar

“We find it hard to understand why our allies feel uncomfortable with the Turkish base in Qatar. The USA has a base there as well. But they are perturbed by our base.”

Greek coast guard opening fire on an unarmed Turkish ship

“There is no reasonable explanation for opening fire on the ship. This is an abdication of reason," Işık noted.

#Turkey
#defense
#Fikri Işık
#FETÖ
#Afrin
#terrorism
#missile