President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Turkish military “dealt with” terrorist PKK leaders in an air operation in Mt. Qandil area, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
Erdogan’s remarks came during his ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s election rally in southeastern Sanliurfa province.
“We conducted our first operation with 20 fighter jets and struck 10 significant points in Mt. Qandil area,” Erdogan said, adding: “In our second operation, we dealt with their leaders' team when they were at a meeting in Mt. Qandil area.”
On June 10, Turkish airstrikes destroyed 14 PKK terror targets in Mt. Qandil area, the military said.
Reiterating Turkey's firm stance in the fight against terrorism, Erdogan said the region covering Sanliurfa would also be liberated from terrorists, and handed down to Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, the real owners of the region.
The PKK has withdrawn from several positions after the Turkish Armed Forces stepped up military operations against the terrorist group in northern Iraq’s Qandil Mountain region on Wednesday, according to local officials.Ihsan Abdulqadir, head of the Sidakan sub-district near the Turkish-Iranian border, told Anadolu Agency that PKK terrorists had withdrawn from a number of checkpoints following a fresh round of bombardments by the Turkish military.Abdulqadir went on to stress that the terrorist group was deeply unpopular among the local population.“We, the people of Sidakan, want them [the PKK] out of the region,” he said.“We have repeatedly said that the group’s presence is dangerous but they have consistently refused to leave,” he added.In recent video footage of the area, dense smoke can be seen rising from positions around Qandil Mountain, which has long been a PKK terrorist stronghold.The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.The group’s three-decade-long terror campaign against Turkey has left more than 40,000 people dead, including numerous women and children.
PKK withdraws after Turkey pounds stronghold in N. Iraq
The PKK is believed to be using Europe as a base for logistics and procurement of weapons and recruitment, Europol said on Wednesday. According to the organization’s 2018 report on terrorism, it also affirmed that there is a process of militant recruitment and luring to indoctrinate diaspora Kurds at scattered centers in Europe.Regarding military combats, the report said: “They are trained in combat techniques in military camps in Armenia, Iran, and Iraq.”The report also accused the PKK terror group of illegally generating income via drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, human trafficking, fuel and cigarette smuggling, extortion, kidnapping and money laundering.“The organization also uses front organizations and charities in the EU for this purpose and is suspected of being involved in criminal activities to supplement its income to cover expenses in Turkey, the Middle East, and Europe,” it said.France also reports an estimate of €6 (nearly $7) million proceeds, including eight PKK militants who were convicted of terrorist financing in Nov. 2017.In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people, including women and children.
PKK terror group uses Europe as logistics base
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday Turkish military operation in Mt. Qandil area of northern Iraq inflicted heavy losses on the PKK terror group.Speaking in a live interview to private CNN Turk broadcaster, Yildirim said: “Airstrikes against PKK terrorists in Mt. Qandil have resulted in serious losses to terror group, including members of its leadership.”Turkey has been conducting a counter terrorism operation in the area to clear it of PKK terrorists.On Turkey’s agreement with the U.S. over a joint action plan to clear northwestern Syrian Manbij area, Yildirim evaluated it as “a positive step”.“We are in favor of solving issues with the U.S. by talking. We don’t want to sever our ties,” he added.
Turkish airstrikes cause serious losses to PKK in Iraq
During his address, the president also announced that an applied sciences university would be established in liberated northern Syrian city of al-Bab.
Erdogan said an applied sciences faculty would be established in al-Bab in coordination with Turkey's Maarif Foundation and Harran University.
"Classes will start in September 2018," he said.
Erdogan recalled that Syria's Jarablus and al-Bab towns and Afrin city were all cleared of terrorists after Turkey's Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations.
"Nearly 200,000 Syrians returned to these areas, to Jarablus and now to Afrin. And now we have made a deal with America and are making Manbij a safer area.
- Operations continue in Iraq
"My Arab brothers in Manbij are returning and will return to their lands," Erdogan said.
Erdogan said Turkey established 12 observation points in Syria's Idlib and made the area safer for its residents.
He emphasized that Turkey's operations in northern Iraq continue destroying PKK terrorist organization.
Turkey has said the presence of terrorist forces near its border constitute a threat, and has launched military operations and other efforts to rid the region of terrorists.
Operation Euphrates Shield, which began in August 2016 and ended in March 2017, was aimed at eliminating the terrorist threat along the Turkish border with the use of the Free Syrian Army, backed by Turkish artillery and air cover.
On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from northwestern Syria's Afrin region. On March 18, Day 58 of the operation, Turkish troops, and Free Syrian Army members liberated the town of Afrin.
On Monday, the Turkish and U.S. forces began patrols in Syria's Manbij in line with a deal which was first announced after a meeting in Washington last week between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The Manbij deal focuses on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terror group from the northern Syrian city in order to stabilize the region.
Should the model prove to be a success, Turkey will push for a similar arrangement in eastern Syria.
Later, addressing AK Party’s election rally in southeastern Mardin province, Erdogan said it is now Qandil's turn to be liberated from terrorists, citing Turkish military’s successful operation in Afrin, northwestern Syria.
“Wherever terror and harassment against Turkey is, we will be down on their [terrorists'] necks,” Erdogan said.
In its over-30-year terrorist campaign against Turkey, the PKK has taken some 40,000 lives, including those of women and children. The YPG/PKK is its Syrian branch.