Ops targeting senior PKK terrorists to continue in Qandil: DefMin

Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday that Turkey will continue its operations against the senior terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq's Qandil Mountains.

In a joint operation, Turkish army and intelligence units last week hit several senior targets at the terrorist PKK’s base on Mt. Qandil, northern Iraq, security sources said on Wednesday.

The operation last Thursday was ordered in light of intelligence that Rıza Altun, top aide to PKK leader Cemil Bayık, and other senior terrorists were set to hold a meeting on Qandil, near the Iranian border, said the sources.

Akar also blasted the U.S. move to recognize Israel's sovereignty over occupied Golan Heights.

"This is wrong and the course is perilous. You sow the wind and reap the whirlwind," Akar said referring to the U.S. decision on Golan Heights, during his meeting with families of martyrs in Istanbul.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

Israel occupies roughly two-thirds of the wider Golan Heights as a de facto result of the conflict. It moved to formally annex the territory in 1981 -- an action unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council.

Israel has long pushed Washington to recognize its claim over the territory it seized from Syria during the 1967 six-day war.

Turkey, Russia, China, Germany and others are already opposed to Washington’s most controversial move in recent years.

The defense minister added that Turkey expects everyone to empathize with developments in the Aegean Sea and it should not be provoked.

Akar said Turkey's foreign policy was based on peace, friendship and good relations with neighbors.

"However, we will not allow a fait accompli, we want everyone to know that we will do whatever necessary in line with self-defense and international laws," referring to possible hostilities in the surrounding seas.

He went on to say that Turkey had already taken all measures to defend its interest in the "blue homeland".

He also touched upon the fight against Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 coup attempt.

"So far, 16,294 personnel [affiliated with FETÖ] were expelled from the Turkish Armed Forces...Our fight against FETO continues without any flaws...The more FETO members cleared, the stronger our army grows," he said.