ANKARA (Anadolu/Al Jazeera) – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey will complete the 30-kilometer-deep security strip along its southern border.
Speaking at a meeting in southern Sanliurfa province, Erdogan said that attacks will not deter the country from its determined stance on securing its southern border.
“We will definitely complete the 30-kilometer-deep security corridor that we are establishing along our southern borders, attacks will not dampen our resolve,” he said.
Since 2016, Turkey has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the settlement of residents.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s branch in Syria.
The spokesperson for the Turkish presidency has told Al Jazeera that Kurdish armed groups in Syria are “legitimate targets”, and accused them of exploiting ties with the United States to justify their presence along Turkey’s border with Syria.
Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara is after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its offshoots the so-called Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the so-called Democratic Union Party (PYD) groups to protect its borders.
Ankara has blamed the outlawed PKK, YPG and their affiliated groups for the November 13 Istanbul blast as well as previous attacks. The PKK has been waging a decades-long bloody armed rebellion for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast.
“For us, any and all PKK, PYD, YPG establishments, elements, posts, military points are legitimate targets for us,” Kalin said during the interview with the Talk to Al Jazeera program, whether they are in Syria or Turkey.
“They are legitimate targets because they are terrorist organizations,” he continued. “We go after them to protect our borders. We don’t target Russian or American soldiers or military posts in Syria or anywhere else.”
Kalin went on to say that the PKK, PYD, and YPG “elements” have in the past used American and the Syrian regime flags to “protect themselves”.
“That itself shows the extent of the PYD and YPG using their alliance with the United States to legitimize their own presence in northern Syria,” he said.
The presidential spokesperson said that the recent “terrorist” attack on Istiklal Street in Istanbul prompted Turkey to respond. The perpetrator, a Syrian woman of Kurdish descent, was trained by Kurdish militants there, the government said.