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Turkey says border operations are 'needed for security'

Turkey says military operations on southern borders 'do not target sovereignty but are needed for security'
MENA
2 min read
Turkey has defended military operations on its southern borders as a security necessity, rebuking claims that they target the sovereignty of neighbouring countries.
Five Turkish soldiers serving in northern Iraq as part of operations against Kurdish militants were killed this week [source: Getty]

Turkey's current and future military operations on its southern borders do not target its neighbours' sovereignty but are necessary for Turkish security, the country's National Security Council (MGK) said on Thursday.

The MGK statement followed President Tayyip Erdogan's declaration on Monday that Ankara would soon launch new military operations on its southern borders to expand 30-km (20-mile) deep safe zones and combat what he described as terrorist threats there.

"Operations being carried out now and in the future to remove the terrorism threat on our southern borders do not target our neighbours' territorial integrity and sovereignty in any way," it said after a three-hour meeting chaired by Erdogan.

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Any operations were expected to target northern Syria, where Turkey has launched several incursions since 2016, mainly targeting the US-backed Kurdish People's Defence Units (YPG).

Ankara views the YPG as identical to the PKK, a Kurdish militant group that has been waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984. It designates both groups as terrorist organisations. The YPG are a key element of the Kurdish-led coalition which the United States largely relied on to fight the Islamic State.

So far, there have been few signs of military movements that preceded Turkey's last four incursions into northern Syria.

Erdogan's talk of a military operation has also raised the stakes in Turkey's row with its NATO partners over Finland and Sweden joining the alliance, with Ankara accusing both of harbouring people linked to the PKK.