Depending on need, redeployment of troops in Syria or their assignment to different regions may be considered, says ministry
Turkish soldiers' duties in Syria have not been completed and still continue, the National Defense Ministry said on Thursday, addressing Turkish counter-terrorism operations in border regions.
“Depending on the need, the redeployment of our troops in Syria or their assignment to different regions may be considered,” the ministry said on X.
In northern Syria, Türkiye has carried out a series of successful anti-terror operations since 2016, including Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019), to prevent the establishment of a terror corridor and ensure the peaceful settlement of local residents.
Turkish officials have stressed that they will not allow terrorist groups to exploit any power vacuum in post-Assad Syria but must instead lay down their arms and disband.
In addition, ministry spokesperson Adm. Zeki Akturk told reporters during a weekly briefing in the capital Ankara: “With uninterrupted and successful operations conducted against threats and dangers, particularly the terrorist groups PKK/PYD/YPG/SDF and ISIS (Daesh), 69 terrorists have been neutralized in the past week, and a total of 221 terrorists have been neutralized since Jan. 1, including 64 in northern Iraq and 157 in northern Syria.”
“Continuing to dismantle terrorist hideouts, the Turkish Armed Forces seized a large amount of weapons, ammunition, and supplies in caves belonging to terrorists in the Operation Claw-Lock area in northern Iraq,” he said.
He added: “Additionally, this week, a PKK terrorist who fled from shelters in northern Iraq surrendered to our border post in Cizre/Sirnak.”
“The Turkish Armed Forces' fight against terrorism will persist with determination and resolve until not a single terrorist remains,” Akturk underlined.
On border control measures, he said: “Since Jan. 1, the number of individuals apprehended while attempting to cross our borders illegally has reached 320. In the past week alone, 1,496 individuals were prevented from crossing, bringing the total number of individuals stopped this year to 5,130.”
PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye.
Türkiye in 2022 launched Operation Claw-Lock to target the terror group's hideouts in northern Iraq's Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions.
Turkish authorities use the term "neutralize" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.
The PKK, which has waged a 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, is classified as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU. The YPG – which sometimes uses the names PYD or SDF – is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.
In recent years, including since last month's fall of the Assad regime, the PKK/YPG has tried to exploit regional instability to create a “terror corridor” along the border with Türkiye.
