The summer ended with no sign of a speculated major military offensive in Iraq but the outlook is fine in Türkiye’s counterterrorism efforts. The Ministry of National Defense announced that 17 PKK terrorists, including 15 in Iraq and two in Syria, were eliminated in operations on Sunday. The ministry’s announcement follows President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s remarks on Saturday where he addressed new members of the Turkish army and pledged that they were working to “close the loop and end the PKK threat targeting us and our brothers and sisters in Iraq.” Security loop is a term often used by Turkish officials to refer to the measures against the PKK threat immediately across the country’s borders with Syria and Iraq. Iraq has been the launchpad of attacks by the terrorist group against Türkiye and is still home to the group’s leadership hiding out in mountainous territory near Türkiye.
In Syria, the PKK’s local wing, the YPG, gained a foothold in the northeast, close to the Turkish border, exploiting lawlessness stemming from ongoing unrest in Türkiye’s southern neighbor. YPG and PKK members moving across the Syria-Iraq border is a main concern for Türkiye which lost thousands of people in a campaign of violence by the terrorist group since the 1980s.
Ankara maintains dozens of military outposts in Iraq, and it regularly launches operations against the PKK.
Since the start of the year, Ankara has hinted at a final summer offensive against the PKK in both northern Iraq and Syria.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler recently said that the ongoing Operation Claw-Lock, launched in April 2022, would be completed before the winter to sever the ties between Syria and Qandil.
Türkiye aims to wipe out the PKK from its borders and create an approximately 40-kilometer-deep (25-mile-deep) security corridor along the Iraqi and Syrian borders.
Both the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have since ramped up strikes on the “terror corridor” in the region, indicating a wider offensive may already be underway.
Ankara also wants Iraq’s cooperation in eradicating the terrorist group at its roots and signed a deal with Baghdad last month to set up joint security centers to combat the PKK in the region.
Over the past decades, Türkiye employed various methods to address the “Kurdish question” that the PKK used as a pretext for its campaign of terrorism, and in the past few years, it ramped up counterterrorism efforts, especially cross-border offensives. As he addressed cadets who graduated from a military academy training army pilots and officers in Istanbul on Saturday, Erdoğan said the military was strengthened in every field. Erdoğan said this success was accompanied by their accomplishment to eradicate the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ),” which grew like a malignant tumor for nearly 40 years.” FETÖ was behind a 2016 coup attempt to overthrow the Erdoğan-led administration through its infiltrators in the army. Thousands of suspects linked to FETÖ were detained, arrested or expelled from the army after the coup attempt was quashed.
On counterterrorism efforts, Erdoğan noted that Türkiye launched Operation Euphrates Shield only 40 days after quashing the coup attempt in 2016. He was referring to a large-scale military operation where Türkiye backed the opposition forces in Syria to drive out Daesh and YPG. Within months, the offensive cleared areas controlled by terrorists in Syria’s north. The YPG was pushed further to the northeast and retains control in several towns, including Manbij where the Turkish army eliminated two terrorists on Sunday.
Erdoğan said that the operation and subsequent offensives by the army sent “a strong message to those hoping for us to experience weakness” after the coup attempt.
“We delivered devastating blows to terrorist groups in northern Syria with operations Olive Branch, Peace Spring and Spring Shield. We struck in Gabar, Tendürek and Bestler Deresi,” he said, referring to hot spots of PKK activity within Türkiye and Syria. “They are looking for an exit route but they won’t find any,” Erdoğan said.
He said they were working to drain the terrorism swamp in northern Iraq with the Claw operations. “We will eliminate the separatist threats to our nation and our Iraqi brothers and sisters. We are aware that we must remain vigilant. We cannot afford to be complacent,” he said.
“Our Air Force plays a significant role in safeguarding our country's security, especially in counterterrorism. We strive to strengthen our Air Force in all areas with the principle 'The future is in the skies.'” he said, in reference to the famous phrase by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Türkiye.
“The momentum we have gained in unmanned aerial vehicles is closely followed not only by our friends and brothers but by the entire world. We are among the top three or four countries globally in this field." Referring to the widespread use of Turkish drones by over 50 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Erdoğan continued: "With the integration of the Kızılelma and ANKA-3, we will enter a new league. Our national combat aircraft, KAAN, is among our most exciting projects. While developing our 5th-generation fighter jet, we are also modernizing our F-16s. We effectively use ATAK helicopters in counterterrorism efforts and will meet important needs with our multirole GÖKBEY helicopter and HÜRJET training aircraft. Many of our systems, including HÜRJET and GÖKBEY, were used for the first time in the EFES-2024 Exercise. We will implement our 'Steel Dome' project, which integrates all our sensors and weapons, with all its components. Just as others have their Iron Domes, we will have our Steel Dome,” he said, referring to the Iron Dome system of Israel.
“The Steel Dome will ensure that all our layered air defense systems work seamlessly together. We are committed to producing, developing, or procuring whatever our Air Force needs for homeland defense without hesitation,” Erdoğan said.
The "Steel Dome Project," approved by the Defense Industry Executive Committee chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month aims to integrate multiple layers of domestic air defense systems, sensors and weapons under a unified network structure. It will feature real-time data delivery to operation centers and leverage artificial intelligence technologies to support decision-makers.
Aselsan, a pioneering defense electronics manufacturer, is spearheading the development of the "Steel Dome." The project will also include other prominent players like Roketsan, a producer of unguided rockets and guided missiles; TÜBITAK Defense Industries Research and Development Institute (SAGE); and Machine and Chemical Industry (MKE), which produces small arms, artillery and ammunition, said Haluk Görgün, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB).
The air defense network is said to feature four layers: very short range, short range, medium range and long range. Many components of the project, such as short and middle-range systems, are already in military inventory. For the initial layer, covering a maximum range of 10 kilometers and an altitude limit of 5 kilometers, Türkiye boasts various options developed by Aselsan, including Korkut, Gökberk, Şahin, Göker, Ihtar and Sungur. For the low altitude layer, ranging from 5 to 10 kilometers, Türkiye has systems such as Herikks, C-Ram, Hisar A+, Gökdemir and Gürz. The medium altitude layer, spanning 10 to 15 kilometers, could incorporate Kalkan 1, Kalkan 2 and Hisar O+.
Kalkan could serve as a sort of "watchman." The system can be defined as a mobile air defense radar that detects incoming air threats. It is Türkiye's first national air defense early warning radar, which has gained new capabilities over time. The long-range layer, for altitudes between 15 and 30 kilometers and ranges exceeding 60 kilometers, could be served by Siper, Türkiye's first long-range air defense system.
Erdoğan emphasized the importance of the steps taken in the defense industry over the past two decades in light of recent regional developments. "Everyone with common sense and foresight can easily see this reality. Türkiye is a country that must be self-dependent. We have seen how our allies acted during the Syrian crisis. With few exceptions, they even hesitated to send Patriot batteries. They did not shy away from openly supporting the PKK's Syrian extension or giving red carpet treatment to the leaders of the separatist terrorist group,” Erdoğan said in a string of barbs against its main ally in NATO, the United States. The U.S. is a main backer of YPG in Syria under the pretext of a joint fight against Daesh while Türkiye’s relations with Russia triggered sanctions by Washington over the acquisition of fighter jets. Erdoğan lamented secret and “overt embargoes and export restrictions” on his country’s defense industry that overcame those obstacles.
For years, Ankara has voiced frustrations over its Western allies' failure to provide adequate defense against missile threats despite Türkiye being a NATO member. It eventually took delivery of the advanced S-400 missile defense system made by Russia, a cooperation it hoped could help it develop its own missile defense program.
That triggered a major row with the United States, which Ankara says had first failed to supply it with the Patriot system. In response to its 2019 receipt of the Russian system, Washington barred Türkiye from buying and working on the multinational F-35 fighter jet program.
“We rely solely on our own strength, capabilities, and resources, not on anyone else. We will continue on this path in the same manner. While we will not turn our backs on those who wish to walk with us, we will also avoid putting all our eggs in one basket,” Erdoğan said about the course of the local defense industry that grew especially with the development of unmanned aerial vehicles, a major export now for Türkiye.
