Türkiye to resolve border security issues with Iraq this summer — Erdogan

"Issues concerning the Turkish borders with Iraq will be permanently resolved this summer," Turkish President Erdogan has said, as PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq, across the border, to plot attacks on Türkiye.

The remarks came after a cabinet meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Monday.

Referring principally to the PKK, based across the border in northern Iraq, and its Syrian offshoot, the YPG/PKK, he said, "We are ready to bring new nightmares to those who think they can bring Türkiye to its knees with terrorist formation along its southern borders."

He also expressed that Türkiye is determined “to establish a security corridor along its borders with Syria, extending 30-40 kilometres (18.6-25 miles) in depth,” a step it tried to take with previous pacts with US and Russian forces in the region, agreements that Ankara says were not followed.

Ongoing onslaught in Gaza

Turkish president also touched on the ongoing onslaught and atrocities in Palestine's Gaza, expressing "Türkiye is doing its best for Gaza and Palestine and will continue to do so."

Noting Ankara's support for Palestinians through diplomacy and humanitarian aid, he pointed to the necessity of international efforts to resolve the issue.

Urging a unified Islamic world "like bricks of a wall, especially for Gaza," he said: "The solution to the (Gaza) problem lies in achieving effective and resolute international consensus.”

Last fall , a contact group was formed by the regional countries along with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League to push for a ceasefire in Gaza and the establishment of a state of Palestine along the pre-1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Israeli attack on Palestinians at aid queue

On Thursday, Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid at the Al Nabulsi roundabout area on Al Rashid Street, a major coastal road to the west of Gaza City in northern Gaza.

The attack left at least 112 Palestinians dead and 760 injured.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the besieged Palestinian enclave since an October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

Israel's war on Gaza enters into its 150th day, killing at least 30,534 Palestinians, mostly children and women, and wounding 71,980 others.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice.

An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.