Ankara: Turkey’s senior officials met as Ankara warned of further cross-border operations into Iraq and Syria after the suicide bomb attack in the capital Ankara.
Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Chief of General Staff General Metin Gurak, and Chief of Intelligence Ibrahim Kalin had a security meeting in Ankara, the country’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
Later on Wednesday, the Foreign Minister warned that all Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) infrastructure and energy facilities in Syria and Iraq are now “legitimate targets for the Turkish military”.
“We recommend that third parties stay away from the facilities controlled by the PKK and YPG. Our armed forces’ response to the attack will be very precise,” Fidan added.
On Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the Interior Ministry’s building, the other was shot dead by the police. The two attackers were identified as PKK members, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.
The Turkish forces carried out two major air operations on Sunday and Tuesday against the PKK targets in northern Iraq, Xinhua news agency reported.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades.
The Turkish forces frequently carry out ground operations, airstrikes, and artillery bombardments in northern Iraq against the PKK, especially in the Qandil Mountains, the main base of the group.
Turkey has also been trying to create a safe zone along its border with Syria to secure itself from “terrorist” attacks by the Islamic State militants and the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara sees as a Syrian branch of the PKK.
–IANS