The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have been taking every necessary measure for the security of the country and its borders, sources from the Defense Ministry said Monday.
When asked about a possible cross-border operation following reports of Turkish military reinforcement near the Syrian border recently, the sources said: "As our president has repeatedly stated, what is necessary for the security of our people and our borders has been done and will be done when and where it is needed. From time to time, terrorists attack and infiltrate these regions. All kinds of measures are currently being taken against this. In this context, the TSK takes the necessary measures by shifting troops wherever there is a need."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other senior officials recently signaled that a new operation could take place to tackle terrorist organizations operating near the Turkish border in northern Syria.
Two Turkish police officers were killed and two others wounded last month in Azaz, northern Syria, in an attack carried out by the PKK terrorist organization's Syrian branch, the YPG. The YPG/PKK terrorists launched an attack from the Tal Rifaat region and hit an armored vehicle with a guided missile in the Operation Euphrates Shield. Separately, ammunition shells fired across the border from Syria's Jarablus caused explosions at two separate locations in southern Gaziantep province's Karkamış district. A third shell landed within Jarablus and is believed to have been launched from a region controlled by the YPG.
Following the attacks, Erdoğan said that Turkey was determined to eliminate threats originating in northern Syria and underlined that the YPG killing two Turkish police officers was "the final straw."
He also added that Turkey’s struggle in Syria will follow a different path from now on.
Turkey is preparing for a new possible military operation against the U.S.-backed YPG in northern Syria if talks on the issue with the U.S. and Russia fail, two Turkish officials also said.
"It is essential that the areas, notably the Tal Rifaat region from which attacks are constantly carried out against us, are cleansed," one senior official told Reuters.
Turkish forces have launched three operations in the last five years, securing hundreds of kilometers of the border strip and pushing around 30 kilometers (20 miles) into northern Syria.
Russian jets, Iran-backed fighters, Turkish-supported opposition groups, U.S. troops and Syrian regime forces also operate across the patchwork of territories in northern Syria, as well as the YPG.
Despite its NATO ally Turkey's major security concerns, the United States views the YPG as a key ally in the fight against Daesh in northeast Syria. Russia has forces in the area to support the Assad regime.
Azaz and Jarablus have been under the control of opposition groups backed by Turkey since Ankara's first operation into Syria in 2016 – an operation that aimed to drive Daesh terrorists and the YPG away from the border.
Since then Ankara has launched two other operations in Syria against the YPG, one targeting the northwest Afrin region and one further east.
On another question regarding recent reports on Russian deployment of airforces in Qamishli, ministry sources said that "There are some images circulating on social media. These images are of an activity performed only on that day. There is no deployment."
Motion on Turkish troops
The sources also touched upon the duration of the new motion accepted in Parliament which extends the government's authorization to launch cross-border counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq and Syria for two more years.
Confirming that the threats from Syria and Iraq against Turkey have decreased in recent years due to Turkey's cross-border operations, sources said that despite this positive development, these threats still continue.
"The struggle here requires continuity. In order to ensure this continuity, the period was determined as two years. At the same time, it was created in this way to show our determination in the struggle to friends and enemies."
Turkey's Parliament last week ratified a motion extending the government's authorization to launch cross-border counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq and Syria for two more years, as well as continued participation in a Lebanon peacekeeping mission.
While the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), its alliance partner the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the opposition Good Party (IP) voted in favor of the bill, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) voted against, triggering strong condemnation of these parties.
Before the motion, the Turkish military was mandated to conduct counterterrorism and peacekeeping operations in Iraq and Syria until Oct. 30, 2021.
The motion stated that the risks and threats posed by ongoing conflicts near Turkey's southern land borders "continue to rise."
Turkey is battling the PKK terrorist group in northern Iraq and its Syrian affiliate the YPG and Daesh terror group in northern Syria.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations across its border in northern Syria – Euphrates Shield in 2016, Olive Branch in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019. These operations all aimed to prevent the formation of a terrorism corridor and to enable the peaceful resettlement of residents.