Türkiye will not allow terror corridor along south border: Defence minister

Türkiye will not allow a terror corridor along its south border, Turkish National Defence Minister Yasar Guler has said.

"Regardless of who provides support, under any pretext or for any reason, we will not allow the establishment of a terrorist corridor along our southern borders," Guler said on Tuesday in his briefing to Türkiye's parliament on terrorist attacks and counter-terrorism operations.

Following the killing of nine Turkish soldiers on Friday in a terror attack in northern Iraq, security forces stepped up their crackdown on the PKK terrorist organisation and its Syrian offshoot, YPG.

PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye.

Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in April 2022 to target the PKK terrorist organisation's hideouts in Iraq's northern Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan regions near the Turkish border.

Terror's 'last resistance'

In the areas where Operation Claw-Lock continues, Minister Guler said if it weren't for the Turkish military presence, the terrorist organisation's attacks on Türkiye's borders would continue as before, and greater costs would be paid in the cities.

"Today, not a single piece of news about a martyr is coming from within the country's borders, and there is not a single attack on our base areas. This demonstrates the success of our strategy to eliminate terrorism at its source," he said.

Türkiye's military reaching the Zap region, which is the "heart" of terrorists, has caused the terror group to show its "last resistance" in the Operation Claw-Lock zone, he added.

In the Operation Claw-Lock zone, there have been 3,151 harassment and infiltration attempts by PKK terrorists on Türkiye's base areas, Guler stressed. In response to these attacks, as many as 1,689 terrorists were neutralised in northern Iraq, he added.

Turkish authorities use the term "neutralise" to imply the terrorists in question surrendered or were killed or captured.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.