Türkiye will not allow any fait accompli attempts that would threaten its national security and the territorial integrity of its neighbors, a statement released after the National Security Council (MGK) said Tuesday.
The four-hourlong meeting, chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reiterated Türkiye’s determination to eliminate terrorist groups and all other threats that target the country’s national security and unity.
It noted that Türkiye would eliminate all elements of PKK/YPG terrorists, who've turned lands they occupied in Iraq and Syria into terrorist nests.
The concrete progress that will come with cooperation between Türkiye and Iraq on counterterrorism efforts will strengthen joint efforts for regional development, the top security council said.
Türkiye has been coordinating anti-PKK efforts with the Iraqi army. Ankara announced that Türkiye was prepared to provide Iraq with technical assistance for securing its borders to prevent the mobility of PKK around the region.
The PKK, which launched a campaign of terrorism in Türkiye in the 1980s, is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies.
Since Turkish operations have driven its domestic presence to near extinction, the PKK has moved a large chunk of its operations to northern Iraq, including a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of the Turkish border in Irbil.
Türkiye has, over the past 25 years, operated several dozen military bases in northern Iraq in its war against the PKK, as well as the war against Daesh, which controlled much of the area, in 2014 and 2015, when Ankara was an ally in the U.S.-led anti-Daesh campaign.
Criticizing the hypocrisy of countries that claim to defend the rule of law, democracy and freedom of expression, the MGK statement said their attempts to suppress voices raised against Israel’s massacres in Gaza in violation of international law, have proven once again their insincerity about the values they claim to uphold.
Israel hit a refugee camp in a safe zone in Rafah on Sunday, killing at least 45 Palestinians. On Tuesday, Israel hit a camp in the evacuation area again, in grave violation of international law.
Images coming from the camp caused global outrage, as babies were beheaded and civilians were charred due to the bombardment.
Saying that the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) provide vast opportunities for a new milestone in human history, the MGK statement pointed to potential new threats as a result of developments, including cyberattacks.
The statement underlined the significance of Türkiye’s preparedness for the scientific, economic, and military implications of AI research and prioritizing advanced skills in this field.
