Türkiye on Thursday criticized Belgium over remarks against the country's counterterrorism efforts in northern Syria, noting that the fight against terror must be pursued without "buts or ifs" and urging it to take action against PKK terror group and its affiliates.
"You are making a solidarity statement with Türkiye (against terror attacks) but against our counterterror efforts," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a joint news conference with his Belgian counterpart Hadja Lahbib.
Emphasizing that Türkiye "never targets civilians or civilian infrastructure" in its anti-terror operations across the border, the top diplomat said his country directly targets terrorists.
His remarks came after his counterpart expressed "concerns" about a possible ground operation by Türkiye against terrorist targets in Iraq and Syria.
"I wish Iraq could've carried out efforts to eliminate PKK terrorists, as it did with Daesh, and wipe out these (terrorists) from its lands," he said.
He also pointed to the United States and Russia's pledges in 2019 about clearing terrorists in Syria, and said he wished they had "fulfilled their promises," too.
Çavuşoğlu stressed that it would be "unacceptable" for Türkiye to remain idle in the face of terror attacks and noted that solidarity and messages of condemnation were not enough.
Underlining that Türkiye was one of the most sensitive countries in terms of preserving civilians and civilian infrastructures, Çavuşoğlu also voiced opposition to statements against carrying out air or ground operations.
The Turkish minister further emphasized the need to fight terrorism without relent and conveyed Ankara's expectations from Belgium on the matter.
"We expect you (Belgium) to take measures and fight against PKK organizations that are currently very active in Belgium and carry out terrorist activities throughout Europe," he added.
He further said terrorist organizations are present in Belgium, and stressed that "terrorist organizations should be prevented from using Belgium as their headquarters. We need to be in solidarity in the fight against terrorism."
Recently, Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Sword, a cross-border aerial campaign against the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian wing, the YPG, which have illegal hideouts across the Iraqi and Syrian borders where they plan attacks on Turkish soil.
The country's air operation followed a PKK/YPG terrorist attack on Nov. 13 on Istanbul's crowded Istiklal Street that killed six people and left 81 injured. The Turkish Defense Ministry said the operation was carried out in line with the right of self-defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
After the air operation was launched, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also signaled a ground operation in northern Iraq and northern Syria to eliminate the terrorist threat, adding: "This is not limited to just an air operation."
The president specified northern Syria's YPG-controlled Tal Rifaat, Manbij and Ain al-Arab (Kobani) regions as possible targets to clear of terrorists.
The Turkish leader has threatened a new military operation into northern Syria since May and upped those threats in the wake of this month's attack. Erdoğan has repeatedly called for a 30-kilometer safe zone to protect Türkiye against cross-border attacks from Syrian territory.
"We know the identity, location and track record of the terrorists. We also know very well who patronizes, arms and encourages terrorists," Erdoğan also recently said, referring to the U.S. support for the YPG.
The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S., Türkiye and the European Union, and Washington's support for its Syrian affiliate has been a major strain on bilateral relations with Ankara. The PKK/YPG has controlled much of northeastern Syria after the forces of Syrian regime leader Bashar Assad withdrew in 2012. The U.S. primarily partnered with PKK/YPG terrorists in northeastern Syria in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group. On the other hand, Türkiye strongly opposed the PKK/YPG's presence in northern Syria.
Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the PKK/YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns. Underlining that one cannot support one terrorist group to defeat another, Türkiye has conducted its counterterrorism operations throughout, removing a significant number of terrorists from the region.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful ground operations against terrorist groups to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018) and Peace Spring (2019).
Drawing attention to the increase of racism and Islamophobia in Europe, Çavuşoğlu told his Belgian counterpart Lahbib that the Turkish diaspora "in Belgium is also affected by the increasing racism and Islamophobia in Europe."
"We expect the Belgian administration to take serious steps and measures against the attacks against both mosques and our citizens," he said.
Stating that he finds the warnings of Lahbib "strange" about the upcoming general elections in Türkiye next year, Çavuşoğlu said: "Elections in Türkiye are always democratic and transparent."
He stressed credible international institutions such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are always monitoring the elections in Türkiye, as they do in other countries, and said: "Governments in Türkiye come to power by the vote of the people, by the choice of the people. Change happens by popular vote."
Recalling that there have been coup attempts against the democratically elected-governments in Türkiye, Çavuşoğlu stressed his that country has always stood strong against anti-democratic movements.
On bilateral ties, Türkiye and Belgium have gained significant momentum in relations, according to Çavuşoğlu, who added that regular contacts between Ankara and Brussels continue despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Çavuşoğlu noted that Türkiye attaches importance to mutual visits and expressed the desire to hold the trilateral mechanism meeting of the foreign, interior and justice ministers of the two countries in 2023, which was previously held in Ankara in 2016.
He stressed economy and trade are important pillars of the relations between the two countries, and added that the trade volume between Türkiye and Belgium increased by 43% and reached $10.5 billion.
