Turkey to respond to attacks on T rkiye from northern Syria

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Turkey to respond to attacks on T rkiye from northern Syria

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan right speaks with National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar left in an unknown location onboard the presidential aircraft, according to a blurred handout photograph released by the Press Office of the Presidency of Turkey on November 20, 2022. HANDOUT AFP ANKARA Turkish army will respond to the attacks on T rkiye from northern Syria.

After T rkiye carried out a new cross-border operation into northern Syria, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar had a phone call with Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Thursday.

According to a statement from the Turkish ministry, the necessary response has been given and will continue to be given against the increasing harassment and attacks from northern Syria aimed at disrupting the stability in the region and targeting civilian settlements and citizens.

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Akar stated that it was of great importance to follow the agreements previously reached on this issue, referring to the 2019 deal between Russia and T rkiye, which envisaged clearing the area 30 kilometers south of the Turkish border with Syria during the current situation in northern Syria and some issues related to the progress of the Black Sea Initiative.

T rkiye carried out an aerial attack on Sunday against the YPG in northern Syria and the Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK in northern Iraq.

The aerial campaign, called Operation Claw-Sword, was launched after a bomb explosion in T rkiye's largest city of Istanbul on November 13 that killed six people and injured another 81.

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After the attack, Turkish police said they had arrested a Syrian woman named Ahlam Albashir, who admitted to taking orders from the YPG, which Ankara considered to be the Syrian branch of the PKK.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that T rkiye will launch a ground operation into northern Syria at the most convenient time to build a security strip.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by T rkiye, the United States and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for over three decades.