Turkey will enter Afrin without hesitation if a threat comes from the bordering Syrian province, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Thursday.

The PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG) took control of Afrin earlier in 2012. The city is now considered one of the major strongholds of the PKK.

"If Turkey is threatened from Afrin or any other area, we will enter that area without any hesitation and rid it of terrorists," Çavuşoğlu said.

He further added that Turkey could carry out operations similar the Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on Aug. 24, 2016, to drive Daesh away from Turkey's border after the terrorist group's presence threatened safety and security in southern provinces, including Kilis, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa.

"As the president [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] has said, we would enter unexpectedly in one night," Çavuşoğlu said.

PYD terrorists in Afrin have occasionally carried out cross-border attacks against the Turkish military, despite the presence of American and Russian representatives and military experts in the area.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ told Anadolu Agency that Turkey's National Security Council discussed on Tuesday the possibility of an operation in Afrin.

Bozdağ said any humanitarian or terror-related development in northern Syria directly affects Turkey's national security. He added that the country will take all necessary measures to eliminate any threats that could emerge from that area, establish a political solution and internal peace in Syria, and also block the possibility of terror groups crossing into Turkey to carry out attacks in the country.

"We have always said we will not turn a blind eye to the presence of the PKK-affiliated PYD/YPG's presence in Afrin and the threat they pose against Turkey," the deputy prime minister said, adding that Turkey will retaliate if there were any cross-border attacks.

He said Afrin was a top issue on Turkey's agenda and that Ankara has communicated its position on the PYD/YPG in Afrin with the U.S., Russia, and Iran.

On Nov. 22, Erdoğan met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi to discuss Syria.

During the meeting, the three leaders agreed to convene a congress of Syrian groups to advance a political solution for the war-torn country.